


Undead Awakening

by Dusty_cake



Category: No Fandom, Original Work
Genre: Blood and Gore, Character Death, Depression, Explicit Language, F/F, F/M, Gen, Harassment, Horror, Mild Sexual Content, Original Character(s), Original Fiction, Romance, Survival, Threats of Violence, Violence, Zombie Apocalypse, Zombies
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-07-08
Updated: 2020-06-11
Packaged: 2020-06-24 20:27:53
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death, Underage
Chapters: 14
Words: 146,516
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19731193
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dusty_cake/pseuds/Dusty_cake
Summary: The story begins with Anna waking up to go shopping at the mall with her best friend. Little does Anna realize that her shopping day is about to take a dark turn.





	1. Summary

**Author's Note:**

> Note1: The beginning of this chapter is just a quick summary and introduction of the story and characters, feel free to skip this if you'd like to get straight into reading.
> 
> Note 2: This page gets updated each time new characters are revealed so feel free to check back once a new character has been added.

* * *

**Theme song for the story:**

* * *

  * Anna
  * Main Character
  * 22 Years old



Description: The story begins with Anna awaking from her sleep. She may come off as a generic main character from your typical movies but Anna holds a lot of significance to the story later on.

* * *

  * Isabella
  * Main Character
  * 22 Years old



Description: Known as Anna’s best friend. In the story Isabella’s sister is missing and she’s out on a quest to find her, while also working on survival. She shows a very coward-like personality and depends a lot on Anna. Don’t get her wrong though, when her best friend is in need of help she is willing to take risks. Isabella is very misunderstood as a person.

* * *

  * Angelina
  * Main Character
  * 23 years old



Description: Angelina comes off as a lone wolf and seems very introverted. Her character is not as cold as she appears, and she opens up to her survival friends as time goes on.

* * *

  * Valeria
  * Main character
  * 17 years old



Description: Carefree and don’t give a f personality. Valeria is an easy going character that would flow with almost anything. People misunderstand Valeria thinking that she doesn’t care about anything, however, Valeria has feelings just like everyone else, she just doesn’t show them.

* * *

  * Ally
  * Main Character
  * 16 years old



Description: A young aspiring artist who doesn’t really interact. Ally’s main focus in the story is sticking together with fellow co-survivors to stay alive. She grows a cute friendship bond with fellow survivor Angelina, which is surprising due to the age difference. I guess friendship has no age.

* * *

  * Jacob
  * Main Character
  * 18 years old



Description: Survival is Jacob’s only goal and he absolutely hates when people and obstacles alike try to jeopardize that. He has a complicated relationship with Bailey, and a burning hate for Valeria. He blames Valeria for the death of his best friend.

* * *

  * Bailey
  * Main Character
  * 17 years old (Ages up to 18 later in the story.)



Description: Bailey has a hot temper and her patience has a limit. People describe Bailey as a “Bitch” and “Obnoxious” however Bailey is only like that because she is afraid of showing her true feelings.

* * *

  * Carl
  * Lead Character
  * 16 years old



Description: Known as the “Fat kid” from the gaming squad. Carl is just a kid that has a love for both games and food. He has an obsession with shoot ‘em up games and guns.

* * *

  * Matthew
  * Side Character
  * 17 years old



Description: Matthew is just your average typical highschool student with a handful of friends. He has always had a crush on Valeria since he first started highschool. He told his friends he would confess to her one day, but they always ask when that day would come.

* * *

  * Jessie
  * Mystery Character
  * 16 years old



Description: Known as Isabella’s younger sister. She was at Middlefort Highschool during the apocalypse breakout. No one knows where she is, or if she’s even alive.

* * *

  * Richard
  * Side Character
  * 34 years old



Description: A person literally no one likes, with the exception of his class “Fangirls”. Richard is an art teacher at Middlefort Highschool. He likes to be in control and thinks he’s the best at everything.

* * *

  * Ashley
  * Side Character
  * 25 years old



Description: Ally’s friend who works in the military. Although she is far away she does what she can to help her in any way possible. She always thinks of the worst, and doesn’t expect any positive outcome.

* * *

  * Chris
  * Side Character
  * 31 years old



Description: A school teacher that works at Middlefort Highschool. He teaches in the same class Isabella’s younger sister attends.

* * *

  * Molly
  * Side Character
  * 6 years old



Description: An orphan child that doesn't know what happened to her parents. Molly is stronger than she looks. She's closer to Ally the most.

* * *

  * Duke
  * Side Character
  * 41 years old



Description: Duke is a criminal with a dark past. 

* * *

  * Henry
  * Side Character
  * 48 years old



Description: Military commander and Father of Bailey. Henry has always been a stubborn man, and with his daughter being equally as stubborn the both of them tend to clash a lot. But as stubborn as this man can be deep down all he wants is the best for his Daughter.

* * *

  * Dolores
  * Side Character
  * 45 years old



Description: Henry's Wife and the Mother of Bailey. Dolores has always been an understanding person. It's not easy having to deal with both a stubborn Husband and Daughter, but she always has to play mediator to even get these two to calm down. 

* * *

  * Frank
  * Side Character
  * Age N/A



Description: He's a Military Captain. Since the outbreak all contact from multiple military bases has been lost. Frank has been leading his own squad until he gets further notice. He's somewhat close with Ashley but refuses to show any form of serious affection towards her because he believes he must stay professional.


	2. Beginning of a new day

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: Character death.

It was a beautiful Friday morning as the sun rises without a single cloud to be seen in the sky. The alarm clock went off but Anna was too deep into her sleep to hear it. After a few minutes Anna's eyes slowly opens and she realizes her alarm is ringing. She makes groaning noises as she pulls the bed cover down to her waist and stretches her arm over to her alarm clock, slapping her hand onto the button. Being a person that wakes up really tired and grumpy in the morning Anna still felt really tired and could barely get up at all. She checked her clock only to see it was just 6:30AM.

Anna said to herself in her mind "Maybe I could sleep for just one more hour...". Anna then lays back down on her bed pulling the bed cover over herself and turning herself over to get comfortable. Anna spent no time at all falling asleep with a light snore.

A young boy who appears to be a highschool student was walking down the street heading to his classmate's house. He comes by her house almost everyday of the week to walk to school with her. As he approaches her house he hears a yell. He instantly recognizes the yelling as it sounds just like his classmate's mother. Not being sure if he should wait for his classmate to come outside by herself he decides to knock anyway. He lightly knocks on the door two times. Standing at the door for 1 minute without hearing an answer he knocks the door again two more times but knocking a little louder. He can hear a lot of noises, like there is a mess going on inside the house. As he is stands outside he can still hear his classmate's mom yelling. The mom yells "VALERIA, CHECK WHO'S KNOCKING ON THE DOOR!"

Valeria yells back "OKAY MOM.". Still standing outside he can hear that his classmate Valeria is rushing downstairs towards the door. The door opens and he sees Valeria. Valeria greets him saying "Wassup Matthew." He greets back "Hey Val!". As Valeria shuts the door behind her, her mother asks Valeria to bring back a box of eggs on her way home. Completely ignoring what her mother says Valeria tells Matthew "Leggo!". Matthew and Valeria began walking to school together while discussing about games, food, and life.

The morning continues as Anna's ringtone on her phone goes off, however she is still fast asleep. Anna gets woken up as she hears some music playing. She quickly realizes it's just her phone. Still being tired and grumpy she says in her mind "Who the fuck is calling me at this time?" She continues "Nobody really calls me this early unless it's a random number...". Ignoring the phone call she remembers that she actually has plans this Friday which is today. She quickly gets up while saying out loud "OH DAMN! I'M SUPPOSED TO GO TO THE MALL WITH ISABELLA TODAY.". The phone continues ringing, the ringtone appears to be a kpop song.

Anna finally answers the phone and says "Hello?" Isabella replies "Anna, what are you doing? I was waiting for you to call me!" Anna replies back saying "Sorry I was sleeping... but it's still early you know." Isabella replies back saying "What do you mean? It's 11:00am right now we are supposed to be meeting around about now.". Anna didn't realize how much she slept, she replies back saying "WHAT? Oh my gosh I actually overslept when I said I wouldn't." Isabella giggles quietly and replies back to Anna, saying "Don't worry, Anna! Take your time getting ready." she continues "I am actually busy right now anyway and I was worried you were waiting for me or something." Anna says "Nope, I'm just here oversleeping like my typical lazy self." Isabella laughs and says "Haha, okay Anna, just text me when you're done getting dressed and I'll meet you at the mall." Anna says "Okay, I'll see you later! Bye." Isabella says "Bye Anna!". Anna waits for Isabella to end the call but knowing Isabella, she prefers when Anna ends the call instead.

Anna ends the call and releases a deep sigh, rubbing her eyes and trying to shake out of her sleepy mode. Anna gets up and the first thing she does is wash her face. After she washes her face she feels a lot more refreshed. Anna skips breakfast as she wants to save her appetite for lunch at the mall with Isabella. Anna grabs a glass of orange juice before going off to take a shower. Anna then goes to take a shower. Still feeling sleepy Anna just stands in the shower allowing the warm shower water to rain over her head. She shakes her head and says to herself "I need to stop procrastinating...". She finally picks up the sponge and continues to finish off doing what she's supposed to do.

Feeling refreshed and clean Anna exits the shower with a towel wrapped around her, covering the top half of her body and a towel wrapped around her hair. Not being sure what to wear Anna checks her closet. After skimming through her clothes she finally picks out an outfit to wear to the mall. She gently rubs the towel on herself drying her damp wet skin. Afterwards applying a moisturizer and a sweet cherry smelling body mist. Anna loves smelling nice all the time and she never goes without it. After preparing herself Anna finally puts on the outfit she has chosen. A light pink blouse shirt with floral patterns and long sleeves flared at the end. The flower petals on her blouse range into different colors of pink, pastel, dark, and warm pink with a splash of white. Along with her blouse she chose a dark pink skirt, almost like a wine color but a little brighter just to contrast her blouse. With it she wears brown knee length boots that has 3 ½ inch heels.

After getting dressed she decides what hairstyle she wants, she decides to straighten her dark almost black colored hair and leave it free with her freshly cut bangs she had cut just a few days ago. Being 90% complete with dressing up the final thing she does is her makeup. Anna decides to go for an almost no makeup look, wearing eyeliner and cherry colored lipstick adding a bit of mascara and a bit of blush to her cheeks. Completing her dress up Anna goes to text Isabella that she is ready to meet her at the mall. Anna picks up a handbag matching her outfit and making sure she has everything she needs. Isabella quickly replied to Anna's text saying "Okay." As Anna heads out the door to go to the mall.

On a busy late morning at the office building doing boring paper work and picking up phone calls a young woman named Angelina decides to slack on her job by painting her nails. She never really cared for this kind of job anyway since she had plans to go for a bigger and better career. To her being a secretary is far from being fun but at least she gets paid and that's all that matters to her for now. A woman walked in, she looked kind of pale and was lightly sweating. The woman asked to see Angelina's boss. Angelina called her boss saying a woman would like to see him in his office, the boss said to let her in. Angelina showed the woman to his office, while she was walking the woman Angelina noticed the woman does not look well. Angelina asked the woman "Are you ok?" the woman replied saying "Yes, I just feel a little ill but I'm fine.". The woman's voice was shaking as she said it and Angelina knew she was off, but she didn't make a big deal about it. Angelina showed the woman the way to his office and then returned to her desk.

12:30 PM on a hot afternoon at Middlefort Highschool it was lunch time and everyone left their class to go eat at the cafeteria. Some students ate outside on the rooftop and others on school grounds. Matthew decided to go on the 3rd floor balcony to eat. Matthew wanted to invite Valeria but as he was going over to ask her he saw she was already busy with friends. Valeria is pretty popular at their highschool so Matthew hardly gets time to hangout with her, which is the reason why Matthew likes to walk to school with Valeria since it's the only time he gets to spend with her. The last time he got to spend time with her at all was last week after school when everyone left to go to a party but Valeria couldn't go because of her mother’s strict rules. Matthew was invited to the party but he felt bad leaving Valeria alone so he decided to hangout with her. They played video games at the arcade and ate at McDonalds, having fun and talking about the gaming squad they have. Matthew and Valeria are like glue when it comes to gaming because of their really great teamwork. Matthew likes teasing Valeria when she makes mistakes and Valeria likes cursing at Matthew when he makes his, even belittling him for the heck of it. Still when those two team it's like an unbeatable pair.

Matthew hangs out by the balcony for some fresh air, he opens his lunch box and starts eating. From where Matthew is standing he can see Valeria having fun and eating with her friends. Matthew releases a sigh. Matthew's friend passes by saying "Just ask her out already!" Matthew recognizes the girl's voice even before turning around. He turns around saying "Hm?" Matthew's friend Bailey says "You obviously like her, so just ask her out already." Matthew says "What? No..." Bailey replies saying "What? Are you too much of a pussy to do so?" Matthew says "No, it's not that... it's just that if I do...". Matthew stutters and continues "If I do she will just laugh at me and think I am a bigger wimp than I already am." Bailey replies "She already knows how big of a pussy you are. Perhaps asking her out will make you less of one." Matthew replies "I... ugh I just can't, okay? I do like Valeria but she can be scary sometimes." Matthew continues "Like I don't know what she really thinks of me, what if she gets disgusted that I ask?" Bailey says "You're overthinking. I doubt she thinks of you that way or she wouldn't be in a gaming squad with you.".

The school bell rings as it's time to return to class. The students return to class but Matthew and Bailey still continues their conversation. Matthew says to Bailey "Maybe you're right... but now isn't the right time." Bailey says "Ugh, it’s never a ‘right time’ for you, Matthew. How long are you gonna freaking wait? What if some other guy beats you to it?" Bailey continues "You know... Valeria is popular especially among boys since she is a major tomboy." Matthew replies "You're right!". Matthew breathes and he says "I'm gonna ask her out after school... maybe." Bailey says "Do whatever you want. Just don't come crying to me when someone beats you to it.". Matthew turns his head down, thinking about what could happen, and if he gets rejected. Bailey says "Hmph, coward." while walking off back to class. Matthew closes his eyes and clenches his fist to the thought of having another guy beat him to the chase. Matthew releases his fist and let's out another sigh, opening his eyes saying to himself "She's right.. I have to try.”.

Matthew ignores going back to class too early as he is trying to grab some courage to tell her. Bailey is one of Matthew's friends that is actually aware of his feelings for Valeria. His best friend Jacob is the second person to also be aware of how he feels for her. Matthew only trusts these two people to know about this. Both friends are supportive. However Jacob is more cool and understanding while Bailey is harsh and critical. At the school front gates there is a loud banging noise on the gate, this noise caught Matthew's attention.

12:30 PM Isabella arrives at Greenhill mall. She checks herself to make sure she looks fine before Anna shows up. Isabella was working so she was concerned about her appearance. A short moment later Anna arrives greeting and waving at Isabella. Isabella says "Hey!" while waving back to her. The two walk up to each other and give each other a big hug. The two then walked around the mall while having a chit chat. Anna says to Isabella "How is your sister?" she says "Oh, she's doing fine. She recently enrolled at Middlefort Highschool." Anna replies "Cool, I heard that place isn't far from the mall." Isabella says "Yeah, it's only a few blocks away." Anna asks "Have you been up to anything lately?" Isabella tells her "Just the usual work." Anna then asks "What about your love life? Has anyone captured your attention?" she smiles. Isabella replies "Wah? No." slightly blushing while saying "Of course not!" Anna giggles then says "Hehe, Okay.". Anna and Isabella walks past a flower shop.

Anna notices a guy staring at Isabella. Anna then nudges her elbows at Isabella saying "Hey, I saw that guy over there staring at you!" Isabella says "Hm? Are you sure? He could've been staring at something else..." Anna replies saying "Nope, pretty sure he was staring at you. Then he turned his head away quickly." Isabella says "I doubt it." Anna suggests to Isabella "Let's walk in and pretend to buy flowers." Isabella says "No!" Anna says "Why not? We can then prove if he was staring at you or not." Isabella says "...No! Let's just buy lunch." Anna then drags Isabella by her arm all the way into the shop. Isabella tries to pull out of Anna's grip without drawing attention, Isabella quickly gave up and started getting nervous. As they walk into the flower shop Anna pretends to look at flowers while Isabella was feeling awkward.

As Isabella's eyes moves all over the place and not sure what to look at, all Isabella wanted was to not make eye contact with that guy. The guy walks over to both Anna and Isabella asking "What can I do for you ladies?" Isabella pretending she didn't hear. Anna jumps in and says "Oh, we're looking to buy flowers!" the guy says to Anna "What kind?" while taking quick glances at Isabella. Anna saw the guy took glances at Isabella, she knew he had an interest. She notices Isabella is trying to avoid him. Anna pointed out which flowers she wanted to buy. The guy picked the flowers for Anna while asking "Would your friend like some flowers too?" Anna nudges Isabella with her elbow Isabella shakes out of her zoned out nervous state and says "Huh, What?" Anna says to Isabella "He asked if you wanted flowers..." Isabella couldn't help but make eye contact with the guy by accident.

The guy appeared to be Asian, just like Isabella. He had light brown hair with a bowl cut and he had tan skin. He’s above average in height, and is quite handsome. Isabella's face goes red as she makes eye contact, she quickly turns her head away and says "N...No.. thanks..." in a very quiet tone. Anna says to Isabella "Come on, Bella! Pick these beautiful purple flowers!" she continues "They would look good in your garden!" Isabella quietly says to Anna while standing behind her "O...Okay!" Anna sighs as she knows Isabella is way too shy to talk to the guy herself. Anna asks the guy to pick the flowers for Isabella. He picks the flowers and wraps them in a nice wrapping. The wrapping was even prettier than the one he gave Anna which shows Isabella did catch his eyes. The guy then finishes wrapping the flowers and instead of giving it to Anna he walks up to Isabella and hands her the flowers. Isabella stares at him shyly while trying to find the words to say "Thank you." She takes the flowers and he says "You can have them for free." he says "You're welcome!" without her saying "Thank you" first. Anna then thanks the guy for Isabella. Isabella and Anna both walk out together.

Isabella says to Anna "Why Anna? Why did you make me go with you to the flower shop?" Anna replies back with a grin "I wanted you to finally have a love life" she continues "All this work is stressing you out." Isabella says "I'm fine, Anna. I'm not stressed." Anna says "If you say so." Anna then continues "Let's go eat lunch now?" Isabella says "Ya, let's go!" Isabella and Anna head to a coffee shop to buy lunch. Anna ordered a strawberry milkshake with a cheesecake while Isabella ordered a sandwich and some bubbletea. As they take a seat Isabella says "Dessert for lunch?" Anna says "I have a sugar craving okay? Don't judge." Isabella says "I'm not judging, I'm just wondering.". Anna asks Isabella "So... will you be passing by that flower shop again? " Isabella replying "No." she continues "I will actually try to avoid that area!" Anna laughs and says "You're such a shy bean.".

The waitress brings their order to the table the waitress looked pale and has a mild sweat on her forehead. The waitress puts their order on the table. The waitress was about to sneeze, she couldn't hold her sneeze much longer. She sneezed all over Anna and Isabella's order. Anna had a face of disgust. Isabella was in disbelief as that happened right in front of them, she felt kind of offended. The waitress apologized saying "Oh my god, I'm so sorr-" she Sneezed again, the waitress finished her sentence "I'm sorry" Anna blew up in anger "What the hell? If you're sick why are they allowing you to work here?" The waitress sneezed again and again in a repeated chain Anna's anger was hitting the limit. As Isabella knows how Anna is like when angry Isabella says to Anna "Please Anna let's go!" she continues "We can go somewhere else to eat lunch.." from a distance a loud scream was heard. The screams caught both of their attention as they both turn their head to the direction of the screams. Isabella says "Anna, what was that?" Anna says "I don't kn-" a storm of people ran upstairs to the food court as the screams got louder. Shortly after people started jumping on top of each other biting flesh from their necks. The waitress that was sneezing collapses on the floor. The food court became a mess as human-like zombies stormed the area attacking any living human in sight. Anna in disbelief is frightened and shocked at the same time. All that came into Anna's mind first was getting out of that place. Anna grabbed Isabella's arm and shouted "We have to go NOW!" Isabella in shock and confusion asking "Anna!!! Why are those peop- AAAH!" Isabella screamed as they ran into their direction. Both Anna and Isabella start running for their lives.

Back at the office building it was 1PM and Angelina was about to go on her lunch break. She was wondering what was taking that woman so long in the boss’s office. Angelina shrugged as she doesn't really care what goes on. As she was about to get up off of her seat her boss walked towards her desk. He seemed really off... his movement wasn't normal and had a wheezing kind of breathing. Angelina said "Boss, are you ok?" as he got closer she saw that his skin has changed color, he was a gray-ish pale and his eyes had a dead look. Angelina started stepping backwards in fear. Trying to figure out what was wrong, Angelina’s eyes directed right towards the elevator door. Her boss lunged at her, Angelina dodges him and dashes for the elevator. She rushed into the elevator and smashed the bottom floor button multiple times, she then leaned back against the elevator wall, breathing hard and trying to comprehend what she just saw.

The thought of her boss becoming a zombie crept into her mind but she shook that thought off immediately telling herself "No, there's no way he became a zombie... don't be stupid Angelina!". She slaps her own face trying to shake off what she believed to be a stupid thought. The Elevator door opens after it reaches the bottom floor, Angelina’s eyes opened wide as she witnessed people being eaten alive. Their flesh being bitten into and ripped off. Angelina becomes frozen in thought, not being able to believe what she is seeing right before her eyes. She then becomes frozen, not moving an inch, hearing all the anguish screams and witnessing the horror. One of Angelina's co-workers shouts her name saying "Angelina! Help!! Please!!" Angelina hearing the voice of this co-worker shook her out of her frozen state but by the time she turned to see who was yelling her name that person have already been toppled over by a zombie, biting into the flesh of his cheek and slowly ripping off his flesh, he screamed until he couldn’t scream anymore. It was like witnessing torture right before her eyes. Angelina got out of that office building as fast as she could. She didn't know where she was going but as long as she was safe that was all that mattered.

Back to Middlefort Highschool the security guard that was guarding the gate went over to check out what was that loud banging. As he looks he sees 3 people behind the gate but they weren't normal.. These people had a gray-ish like skin and they had dead looking eyes. The loud noise was coming from one of them bashing their own head against the gate really hard. The guard said "What the hell!". With the noise attracting attention from the other teachers of the school they decided to check what was going on.

One of them asked "What is with all this noise?" two teachers and the security guard went to check what was happening. When the guard saw one of the people bashing their head against the gate the guard said "HEY!! STOP THAT RIGHT NOW!" he got his baton ready to fight. He had no idea what was waiting for him. He pulls out the key, unlocking the gate. The gate had prison-like bars, you could easily slip your hand through them... or you head. One of the people behind the gate walked up to the guard from the opposite side while he was unlocking the gate, the guard looked at the person and noticed the person’s corpse-like appearance. The guard said “Hey... pal, you ok?” he puts the key inside and turns it, unlocking the gate.

Before the guard could open the gate the sickly looking person sunk his teeth into the guard’s arm, biting his arm through the barred gate. The guard shouted "AAAGH" as he felt the pain from how hard his arm was bitten. The teachers rushed to the guard's aid. One of them said "What the... why did they bite him like that? What’s wrong with them..." The other teacher noticed that those people didn't look normal, they also noticed that a wave of people were slowly heading right for the Highschool.. and they didn't look much different from the 3 that were at the gate. They were zombies. The zombie that bit the security guard got a grip of the gate with its hands an slid the gate open. He lunged at one of the teachers and dived on top of her biting a chunk of her flesh the other teacher ran away after seeing the horror they have seen.

Matthew was up on the balcony witnessing what happened that whole time, his first thoughts was to warn his friends, no matter how crazy it sounds. The first person Matthew knew he could trust was his best friend Jacob. Matthew went to Jacob's classroom because he is one class up above Matthew's class and his class was the fastest to reach. After rushing down the hall to talk to Jacob the teacher says to Matthew "Class is about to start, you should return to your classroom!". Matthew apologizes and says he needs to speak to Jacob for a moment, Jacob says "Hey, what's up??" and the teacher says "No, Return to your classroom right now! You can speak to him after class." Matthew ignored the teacher, he pushes Jacob's back, leading him out to the hallway.

Jacob asks "What's up man? You seem shaken by something." he asks "Is something wrong?" Matthew tells Jacob "Look, I know this sounds crazy but I just witnessed some teachers being eaten by zombies..." he continues "I was just eating lunch on the balcony when I saw it happened. RIGHT NOW zombies are heading this way.". Jacob stands there and stares at Matthew, he was puzzled. Jacob chuckles a little and asks him “Bro, did you take too much coffee or something?” Matthew says “No, Jacob. I’m not going insane! I actually saw zombies!”. Finding it hard to believe he asks Matthew "Are you sure? Matthew you didn't pull another all-night gaming squad again, did you?" Matthew tells Jacob "No, Jacob I am serious... I know it sounds crazy but I saw it, I swear!" Jacob says "Even though this sounds really hard to believe, I’ll trust you Matthew.".

Matthew says to Jacob "Thanks man! But how will I tell this to the others? Most importantly how will I tell Valeria?" Matthew continues "She already thinks I'm a wimp... she will now think I'm an insane one too." Jacob tells him "Don't worry! I'll handle it.". Both Matthew and Jacob walk off, ditching their class. They both went to Valeria's classroom which was also Matthew's classroom. Both of the boys walked up to Valeria's desk, Valeria stands up saying "What are you guys doing here at this time?" Matthew says to Valeria "I know this will sound nuts but right now there are zombies eating people alive." Valeria looks at Matthew with a puzzled face saying "Uhh.. what the fuck??" Jacob says to Valeria "I know, I didn't believe him at first too but think about it... why would Matthew lie about something like this?". Valeria says "He probably played video games all night and now he’s hallucinating seeing zombies. Jacob would you really believe this nonsense?" Jacob says “Valeria I know it’s difficult to believe but Matthew said zombies are about to storm the school any minute, we need to go!”.

The students around them look puzzled, students whispering to each other and looking at Jacob and Matthew like they’re insane. The classroom teacher gives them a warning, saying “Will you three stop creating a conundrum and return to class? For interrupting the class session you kids will be receiving an afterschool detention. Now return to class!”. Valeria gets angry as she got detention for no reason because of Jacob and Matthew. Valeria says “Now look at what you dumbasses did! I got detention because of you Assholes!”. Matthew tries to further explain, Valeria cuts him off saying "Stop! Whatever drugs you're taking you need to chill." Valeria yells at Matthew saying "Now both of you get the fuck out and let me do class!" Jacob grabs Valeria's arm and slaps her across the face, it wasn’t a necessary measure to take but he did it anyway.

Matthew says "Jacob!" Jacob says "She started to freak out okay?" Jacob apologizes to Valeria saying "I'm sorry!" Valeria says with an angry face "Yeah... you better be." Jacob says to them "Let's just go before shit breaks loose." Matthew agrees saying "Yeah, okay... let's go." Valeria says “Wait, what the hell are you guys doing?” Jacob tells her “Trust me, you won’t be getting detention. Now let’s go!” the 3 of them leave class. The teacher yells “HEY! GET BACK HERE RIGHT NOW! I’LL REPORT YOU TO THE STUDENT COUNSELLOR!”. The three of them left, leaving everyone in the class room puzzled what they were going on about.

The 3 of them were about to head downstairs but then zombies started to storm in the hallways Valeria in shock says "WOAH.. THE FUCK..?" Jacob says to both of them "Holy shit! Let's head for the roof!". The 3 of them rushed to the roof together. As they rushed through the rooftop's door, zombies somehow reached the rooftop before they did. Matthew says "How??". On the right side of the school there is a small storage building that has stairs on the outside, it reaches to the very top of the storage roof, the storage building is surrounded by a caged fence. Jacob suggests going there to stay safe until they get rescued. But with several undead zombies in the way they need to get through somehow.

Jacob suggests "We need to smash through these things if we wanna get up there.." Matthew says "No way!" he continues "These things would eat us alive before we even get a chance to hit them!" Valeria shakes her head at Matthew. Valeria says "Stop being a coward. We need to smash these fucks before we can even get there." Valeria picks up a steel pipe that was laying on the ground. Pointing the pipe straight at one of the zombies, Valeria rushes in running ahead shoving the pipe through the skull of the zombie while yelling "DIEEE YOU PIECE OF SHIIIIT!". Matthew yells out "VALERIA!" Jacob also yelling "YO! Be careful with those things!". Valeria smacks zombies around their head, one by one. However, each hit isn’t killing them but instead knocking them down for a brief amount of time. The zombies start to surround Valeria, they slowly start closing in on her.

Jacob says "Oh shit.." as he quickly looks for a weapon to fight back with, he picks up a long stick with a sharp edge, perfect for stabbing some zombie brains. Jacob rushes in giving quick jabs to each zombies head. Making his way to Valeria while also making an opening path for Matthew. Matthew picks up the lid of the trashcan laying on the ground next to him to use as a shield. Matthew rushes in to join Jacob and Valeria. Valeria and Jacob clear the way making it to the storage area, the only thing that's stopping their way is the fence blocking the stairs. Jacob says "Who the hell has a fence blocking the staircase" Valeria replies "I know right! Now we have to climb.." Jacob, Matthew, and Valeria began climbing the fence. Matthew looked behind as he saw a huge swarm of zombies from a distance approaching. A few of the zombies were already coming close to the fence as they were climbing. Jacob was already on the other side of the fence, climbing his way down to the bottom. Valeria was at the top while Matthew struggled to get up. Valeria tries to encourage Matthew to climb faster saying "Hurry the f up!".

A few zombies were already at the fence. One of the zombies grabbed Matthew's leg, the zombie tries to pull him down from the fence. Matthew tries to knock the zombie off with the trashcan lid but he drops it by accident. Valeria sighs as she knew Matthew could not defend himself from the zombie. Even though the other zombies were approaching they were still a distance away so Valeria knew she could whack a few heads before climbing up. Valeria decides help Matthew. Valeria got down from the fence and lunged at one of the zombies shoving the steel pipe clean through its head. Valeria pulls the steel pipe from its head with full force before going for the next one.

As she shoves a steel pipe through the next zombie's head the 3rd zombie approached her. This zombie however was stronger than the last two. The zombie approached right behind Valeria. Jacob warns her saying "Valeria! Behind you!!" Matthew also warns "Valeria, look out!" Valeria pulls the steel pipe from the zombie's head quickly turning around and defending herself against the last zombie, she held the pipe cross-ways against the zombie. Both Jacob and Matthew gasp as Valeria turned around just in time but Valeria struggled because this zombie was stronger. The zombie wave was halfway near the fence. Matthew panicked as he wasn't sure what to do. Jacob felt hopeless as he was already on the opposite side of the fence not being able to reach Valeria.

Valeria pushed the pipe towards the zombie trying to fight it off but the zombie overpowered her, toppling over Valeria. Valeria fell butt first onto the ground while still fending off the zombie with a steel pipe. Valeria screams in frustration trying her best to get the zombie off of her. The zombie leans in towards Valeria, face to face with her trying to get a bite of her face. The zombie's breath blew in Valeria's face as he tried to bite at her. Valeria struggles trying to hold her breath, she smells the rotten corpse smell from the zombie's mouth, to her the smell was so bad it was unimaginable. Struggling to hold her breath Valeria was losing grip of her steel pipe, causing the zombie to draw in even closer to her.

Despite being in a hopeless position Valeria still fights for her life. Matthew feeling like a complete coward doing nothing but hoping Valeria fights out of it. Matthew saw that if he doesn't do anything Valeria will get eaten by that thing. Suddenly he grabs the courage to try and save her, Matthew jumps down off the fence to help Valeria. While Valeria was struggling with the zombie Jacob was already climbing halfway to the top of the fence ready to come over the fence and help her. As he saw Matthew was about to take action to defending her Jacob says "Hey! Matthew WAIT!" Matthew picks up the dented and damaged trashcan lid and bashes the zombie's head, freeing Valeria from the zombie.

Jacob was surprised that Matthew did it. Jacob had a sigh of relief that Valeria is now okay. Jacob tells them "Guys quick! Climb the fence!" Matthew lends Valeria a hand getting up off the ground but Valeria got up herself without help. Valeria was about to pick up the steel pipe, the zombie that Matthew bashed off came back at Valeria, lunging at her. Matthew saw the zombie was about to attack Valeria with his jaws wide open, Matthew quickly body blocks Valeria using his trashcan lid. Valeria was shocked that Matthew actually blocked for her. Matthew stood in front of Valeria trying to push off the zombie away. Matthew’s weakness got the best of him, he quickly loses grip of the Trashcan lid. The zombie's teeth and jaws sank right into Matthew left shoulder, leaving a deep bite mark.

Valeria quickly grabs her steel pipe and lunges it into the zombie's head. She then pulls the zombie's head away from Matthew's shoulder and pulls the pipe out. Valeria quickly grabbed Matthew's right arm while saying "Come on, let's go!" she added "The wave is approaching!" Both of them began climbing on the fence once again, breathing hard and sweating heavily. Jacob was sitting at the top of the fence waiting to grab Matthew, he helped Matthew halfway on his way up. They both made it over the fence just in time. The zombie wave started crowding the opposite side of the fence. If they stayed there any longer they would've been eaten... alive.

A few blocks down the road from Angelina's office Angelina runs down the city street as the street is in total chaos. With little places to go and groups of zombies everywhere the only safest route Angelina could take was the street that leads towards Middlefort Highschool. Angelina wasn't sure if the school was safe or not, but seeing as that was the only path that had the least zombies she hoped she could perhaps find shelter at the Highschool.

Angelina ran as fast as she could. pouring with sweat and breathing heavily Angelina had no intention stopping for a breather. She ran past and ignored any contact with zombies nearby. Running down the street Angelina noticed a store that had been busted into, it had a baseball bat inside. She decided to run in and take it for protection. This wasn't an ordinary baseball bat either. It was a gray baseball bat with spikes sticking out from the top of it. From the price tag it looked like a very expensive piece, looked like they wouldn't be needing the money for it anymore though. Angelina continues to take the path heading towards the Highschool.

Greenhill mall was also being in chaos. Anna and Isabella successfully avoided all encounters with any zombies and made it to the exit. The city was in a damaged condition, broken buildings, buildings on fire, crashed and turned over cars everywhere. Anna wasn't sure where they should go. Anna tried to think as quick as possible being in their dangerous position. Anna suggested they should go to her house and hope that it's safe there. Anna holds Isabella's arm and tells her "Let's go!" Isabella tells Anna "Wait.. Anna!" Isabella continues "My sister.. she's at the Highschool nearby. We need to save her!". Anna shows a concerned face, Anna says "But what if she isn't there?" Isabella says "I know my sister, she won't move an inch! Anna.. Please!" Anna nods her head and says "Okay!".

Anna and Isabella goes to the direction of the Highschool on foot. Anna says to herself in her mind "Oh gosh, why do I have to wear heels on such a bad day..." with Anna's high heeled boots they won't move as fast as they would in flat shoes... and considering Isabella is already wearing flat shoes she can move fast without troubles. Anna then stops and suggest "Maybe we should get there by vehicle..." Isabella replies "But we don't have a car! And I can't drive either." Anna says "I can sort of drive." she continues "I've taken driving lessons but I've never owned a car or driven one besides the driving school cars." Isabella says with worried face "But, Anna, we don't have a car.." Anna says "I know!" she says "If only I knew how to hotwire a car..." saying this gave Anna the idea to search for a car that already has car keys inside.

Anna quickly checks and skims over each car that has an unlocked door with car keys in it. In no time Isabella quickly finds one and calls Anna. Anna quickly jumps in the car with Isabella. The car is quite big so it could go through the chaotic city without an issue. Although Anna took driving lessons she doesn’t really know that much about cars, just the basics. She takes a few moments to remember how a car works before starting the car. Anna just about gets a hang of it and starts the car, she struggles a little bit, driving roughly on the road. Anna drives off heading to Middlefort Highschool.

In Middlefort Highschool while the outbreak was happening many students were in panic. Some students left the school in hopes to reach home to safety. Other students hid in the classrooms, the bathrooms and the school's cafeteria, many other students ran to the school club rooms for safety, blocking and barricading the doors. However this one particular student was not doing what all the other students were doing. She instead went to her locker to pack away all her valuable arts and drawings she has made, bringing all her art with her.

A bag full of art related things was not the only thing she has brought with her. She also brought a kendo stick to come in handy. While being an artist is her hobby and soon to be career, in her spare time she practices martial arts and is even a part of the school’s martial arts club. Not many students are part of this club because the computer rooms and gaming squads were seen more as fun. Ally took this as an opportunity to test out her martial arts skills on these smelly undead people. Ally leaves the club as she was about to enter the hallway of horror.

While she was walking down the hallway a fast moving zombie zooms straight towards Ally. Ally holds out her kendo stick low to the ground causing the zombie to trip onto the ground. Ally pierces the tip of the kendo stick into its head, the zombie then stops moving. With many zombies ahead of Ally she spent no time rushing down into the hallway whacking zombies left, right, and center. Ally makes a blast through to get out of the school.

Being stuck at the storage rooftop with zombies surrounding the caged fence, Matthew, Valeria, and Jacob makes their way up to the storage's side staircase to reach the very tip top of the school. The school storage has a roof with another fence surrounding the edges. This fence however is not locked and only has a chain around it. Jacob removes the chain allowing the 3 of them to enter. After they have all entered Jacob closes the fence and wraps the chain back around the fence door. Matthew sits down on the rooftop's ground. Staring at his shoulder that the zombie has bitten. Matthew looked pale and his skin was sweating cold sweat. He also had dark circles forming around his eyes.

Jacob notices Matthew did not look well at all, Jacob was worried. Valeria grabbed a cloth she had in her backpack, wrapping it around the shoulder the zombie too a bite at. Matthew speaks to Jacob saying "Jacob..." Jacob rushes over to Matthew’s aid and replies back "Yes?" Matthew continues "You know in those zombies movies.. when someone gets bitten they turn?" he chuckles "I always thought that was just fiction... I never thought it would actually happen for real." Jacob speaks "Matthew what are you saying?" Matthew says to Jacob "You already know what I'm saying." he continues "I've already been bitten... you can already see I'm about to turn, Jacob." Valeria gasps as she sees Matthew's condition getting worse.

Matthew tells Jacob "You have to do it... You have to kill me before I..." Jacob yells at Matthew saying "NO! We can get you healed Matthew.. You're not going to die!". Jacob gets up, he proceeds to open the rooftop's storage door to see if he can find some sort of pain killers for Matthew. Matthew tells Jacob "You have to kill me before I turn or else... I will just turn and hurt you guys. And I don't want that!" Jacob ignores Matthew. He searches for any kind of medicine or painkillers to help him. Instead of finding any form of painkillers Jacob finds a gun loaded with six bullets. Jacob wonders what a gun is doing in the school grounds. Valeria asks Jacob if he has found anything to help Matthew. Jacob quickly hides the gun, tucking it into the back of his pants and pulling his shirt over it.

Valeria enters the storage room asking "Anything?" Jacob shakes his head replying "No." with no luck finding anything to help Matthew they return to the rooftop and sit with Matthew. As time went on Matthew began to look worse by the second. Valeria grabs a tissue out of her backpack, wiping the sweat off of Matthew's face. Valeria asks Matthew "Why did you body block me back there? Why didn't you just bash the zombie instead?" Matthew replies back saying "You're right.. I wasn't thinking rationally, I could've just hit it." he says "But, I dove in for you instead..." Valeria tells Matthew "You're an idiot!" Matthew continues to tell Valeria "I did it because... because I cared for you Valeria" "I did it because I fell in love with you." Valeria looks at Matthew in shock and said "Maybe the zombie bite got you delusional or something.." Jacob adds "No, he's not delusional. He actually had feelings for you.." Valeria not being sure how to respond she says "Oh..". Matthew says "I was afraid to tell you before, because of how you see me" He says to her "You always saw me as a coward and a wimp. And I was afraid to confess.".

Matthew speaks with a shortness of breath and pauses in between his sentences, the infection is rapidly affecting him. Matthew continues "I guess I really am a pussy after all..." Valeria responds "I mean.. what you did back there has kinda made you less of one." she continues "I might have given you a chance just for the hell of it if you've asked before." Matthew has a light smile on his face, struggling to move his facial muscles. Valeria hated the sad and dying atmosphere. She spoke to Matthew about games just to liven up the mood a bit. She notices that his words are cutting a lot shorter. The fun conversation didn't last long as sadness overshadowed Valeria again. Jacob holding his head down in regret, he feels like he could've done something back there to prevent it from happening, he felt useless.

Matthew says to Valeria “Valeria.” Valeria leans in closer to hear Matthew, she says “Hmm?” Matthew says “If you see Carl... tell him I’m sorry I couldn’t keep my promise about playing Resident Evil with him.” Valeria makes a light joke, saying “I don’t think he will care about that anymore, he can experience a real life Resident Evil.” Matthew gives an out of breath kind of laugh. Eventually, he stops talking, and everything went silent. Valeria checks to see if Matthew is breathing. His breathing stopped.

Valeria had a tear drop down from her eye, shortly more tears followed along one after another. Valeria turns her head away in tears. Hating to show her emotional side she cries as quietly as she could, but Valeria asks herself in her mind "I never cared for Matthew that much back as a gaming squad, so why do I care now?" Valeria wipes her tears and stands up telling herself "He killed himself to save me.. so I must repay back!" she continues to tell herself "I'll repay him back by staying alive no matter what." Suddenly a wheezing sound can be heard.

This sound was coming from Matthew. Jacob notices Matthew is twitching, as Matthew's eyes open, Jacob knew he was a zombie. Jacob asks Valeria to stand back. Valeria asking "What are you going to do?" Jacob pulls out his gun that he had found earlier, aiming it at Matthew. Even though Jacob never wanted it to come to this point, Jacob knew he had to do it. Valeria steps back behind Jacob and turns around, she covers her ears while squeezing her eyes shut. Jacob aims right at Matthew's head. Matthew got up, he kept walking towards Jacob, Jacob clenches his left fist as the gun in his right hand is aimed at Matthew.

Jacob pulls the trigger. Valeria releases a scream as she hears the gunshot through her covered ears. Matthew's zombie corpse falls to the ground. Jacob drops the gun, putting both of his hands at the side of his head in shock of what he had just done. Valeria breathes heavily trying her best not to cry. Jacob walks to the edge of the roof. Staring through the fence, looking at the huge hoard of zombies surrounding them. Jacob says "What the fuck..." Jacob then yells out loud with frustration "WHAT THE FUUUUUCK...".

With zombies covering every part of the roof and Valeria and Jacob being trapped the only thing they have left is hope, hope to get rescued and survive their situation.


	3. A not so beautiful day

At 2:45PM the highschool was already flooded in and out with zombies. Even the students of the school have turned into undead creatures. Everywhere around the school was damaged, buildings, cars, even the nature. Angelina arrived at the school on foot, she of course didn't expect much. She knew the school may have been stormed by zombies. Not being surprised Angelina decided to move to another place to find safety, but before doing so she thought it might be a good idea to grab some supplies on her way since she may be having a long journey. The school of course wasn't safe as there were still undead roaming. But with Angelina's spiked baseball bat on hand she didn't see it being a problem. Angelina enters the school, hitting a few zombies on the way in with the baseball bat. Their brains splattered to the ground with the hard hit of the spiked bat.

On the 4th floor of the school Bailey sneaked around the hallways as quietly as she could. She learned that the zombies are blind, as she was walking in their sight of view and they did not react to her. However Bailey wasn't alone, Bailey's classmate Carl was with her. Carl is an overweight gaming nerd who is part of a gaming squad. His rival is Matthew, as they are not in the same gaming squad, but opposing ones. Carl always loses against Matthew's squad because of the good teamwork he has with his team, especially with Valeria. When Carl goes against those two, he knows the game is over.

Moving on, Bailey and Carl reach the stairs and move down to the 3rd floor. On the 3rd floor the two pass by a group of 3 zombies. These zombies looked like the 2nd floor students. Bailey and Carl were moving close to them. Carl trying his best not to freak out, he begins sweating excessively, having an extremely nervous and fearful look on his face. Bailey gives him the hushing sign, and quietly signaling to him not to make a single sound. Carl starts pouring sweat, so much that you can see it dripping off of his chin onto the ground, he also begins to sweat from his back and armpits, exhaling an odor with it. The zombies turn their direction. Bailey having a shocked face because she did not make a sound to alert them. Bailey looked at Carl giving him a 'What did you do?' face.

Bailey tells Carl to run, the two of them start running down to the 3rd floor hallway. Carl being an overweight boy cannot move very fast. Bailey yells at him "Move it, chubby!." as they run, Carl asks with a shortness of breath "I thought you said they can't see us?" Bailey being sure, she says to him "They can't! you must've made a noise or something." Carl denies that he has made any noise, saying "I didn't make a noise, I swear!". While running Bailey is thinking, as she notices Carl sweating excessively, the thought comes to her mind "Maybe not only they can hear, but smell too..." Bailey turns to Carl and tells him "Maybe they can smell your fatass." Carl saying "That's impossible! these things are dead, how can they smell us?" Bailey replies saying "They smell you, not me." she also adds "I'm not the one sweating like a pig." Carl says “You didn’t have to be so harsh…”. Both Bailey and Carl keeps on a move, hoping to escape the school.

Being trapped on the storage roof Jacob stares out of the fence, looking distant, like his mind is somewhere else. Valeria is sitting on the ground with her knees up, planting her face into her knees with her arms wrapped around her legs. Valeria and Jacob are in silence. Not speaking a word to each other. Jacob breaks the silence saying "We need to get out of here." Valeria raises her head, wiping away a tear drop under her right eye. She turns her head looking at Jacob, replying "How? We're surrounded by zombies..." Jacob tells her "We can't stay up here forever. Nobody is gonna show up to rescue us so there is no point in waiting." Jacob adds "And being in this situation waiting for help would take a damn miracle." Valeria tells him "I'm not going anywhere." Jacob says "Then what? Are we just gonna sit here and wait for shit to fall in our lap?" Valeria tells him "We'll wait for help..." Jacob says "When? Where? How? Open your damn eyes. We are surrounded by zombies. Nobody even knows if we're alive or not." Valeria says "We'll wait for a damn helicopter or something... Look, all I know is there is no way I'm risking my life leaving this rooftop." Jacob tells her "Fine, you stay here waiting for a ‘Miracle’ that's NOT going to happen. I'm getting the fuck outta here." Jacob walks up to the fence door, trying to remove the chain. The zombies on the other side tries to grab Jacob and bite him. Jacob jumps backward with a shaken look on his face.

He grits his teeth getting frustrated that he won't be able to leave. Jacob had no choice but to stay put. Jacob kicks over a box releasing a yell out of his frustration. He glances at Matthew's corpse getting a flashback of what happened earlier. Jacob angrily walks into a safe corner, slamming his butt onto the ground to take a rest, he puts his hand on his head, trying to clear his mind and think of how to escape. Valeria stares out into the distance, thinking. Jacob gets frustrated just by watching her sitting down doing nothing. Jacob closes his eyes and tries to think about happy memories just to calm himself down. In no time Valeria decides to get up, she walks up to Jacob, lending out her hand and tells him "You're right. We can't sit here and do nothing." she says "I'm sure Matthew wouldn't want us to be chilling with his corpse either." Jacob eyes lights up, as he is surprised how Valeria changed her mind so quickly, and how she suddenly has gained the motivation to escape.

Jacob is shocked. Valeria says to him "What you waitin' for? Take my hand dude." Jacob takes Valeria's hand, she lifts him up. Valeria walks over towards her steel pipe, picking it up and preparing to take down more of the undead. Jacob goes over to Valeria, they both plan how they are going to bust out. Jacob says "Okay, there are two fences around this storage room, one that the zombies already broke into, and the one securing the storage roof, the storage roofs fence is our last defense in here and-" Valeria interrupts Jacob with a shocked face saying "When the fuck did they break the first fence?" Jacob replies saying "Apparently when Matthew was dying..." Valeria replies saying "Oh." Jacob continues "Anyway, since the fence surrounding the storage area is broken, this is our disadvantage." Valeria comes up with an idea saying "What if we grab a shield of some sort and crash straight through the fence door, forcing all zombies to fall down the staircase?" Jacob replies "That's actually a good idea. But what if we are left vulnerable? Remember if we get bitten even once... it's over." Valeria replies saying "I know, this is why only one of us bursts through and the other covers their back." Jacob says "I guess I'll be busting the fence." Jacob picks up his stick and gives it to Valeria telling her "Here, the end of the stick is sharper. So you can take them down easier." Valeria says "What if it breaks? I think I'll stick with my pipe." Jacob replying to her "Why not take both?" she replies "Sure.".

Jacob remembered seeing a half broken door kept in the storage room, he thinks it would be best suited to use as a shield. Preparing to burst their way out Valeria gets ready to remove the chain from the fence door. Valeria tells him "By the way, try not to fall down the stairs on your way out." She says it with a smirk, Jacob says "I'll try not to.". With the few zombies being in the way preventing Valeria from removing the chain Valeria stabs the zombies with the sharp end of the stick. The zombies topple over the ones behind them, giving Valeria enough time to quickly remove the chain. Valeria quickly removes the chain and backs up.

Jacob starts charging through the fence with his half broken door smashing through the zombies blocking his way. Some of the zombies fell off of the staircase. Jacob slides down the staircase with the door onto a hoard of zombies crushing each and every one of them lining down the staircase. Jacob lands on top of the broken in half door with a bunch of zombies underneath. The zombies surrounding Jacob approach him, trying to get a bite out of him. Valeria charges down the stairs, whacking away any zombie in sight. She quickly lends the stick back to Jacob and take out her steel pipe ready to fight her way out. Valeria says "You forgot you're gonna need a weapon after you burst out. That was the hole in your plan." He says "You're right, whoops.".

Valeria and Jacob charge through the broken fence, running down the rooftop and smacking any zombie that approaches their way. They both reach the stairs heading down to the top floor, going down to the top floor more zombies await them. They both charge at the zombies whacking them, all zombies fell down one by one. Their plan now was to escape the school, hopefully unharmed.

Entering the school gates Anna and Isabella finally arrive search for Isabella's sister. Isabella is calling her sister's phone trying to reach her but no answer. Isabella also tries to call her parents but with no luck. Isabella has an extremely worried face, Anna tells her "Don't worry, I'm sure your sister is fine... she's probably hiding. Don't lose hope, okay?" Isabella nods, as she tries her best to not overthink the worst outcomes. They both exit the car, looking around at the damage that has been done to the highschool. Isabella gets even more worried with the sight of it. Zombies slowly approach them, but they don't have any weapons on hand. Isabella backs up towards Anna in fear.

Anna tries to quickly think what to do. She spots a crowbar laying on the ground, Anna quickly runs over to pick it up. Isabella follows behind her. Anna waits for the zombie to come closer, then she hits it right in the face. The zombie went down but quickly got back up because she didn't hit it right in the brain. On her second try she swings the crowbar right in the zombie’s head. The crowbar got stuck. As she pulls it out the zombie's corpse leaned towards her, about to topple over her, Anna quickly jumps out of the way. The zombie falls in front of Isabella's feet. Isabella screams while she jumps backwards, Isabella's eyes start to water. Anna goes over to her saying "It's okay! I took it down... I think." Anna puts her hand on Isabella's back saying "Let's go." they both walk off. Isabella stares at the zombie's corpse while they both head into the school, she puts her hand around her mouth, feeling sickened by the sight of it.

They entered the school, they saw corpses everywhere, of both humans and zombies. Isabella walks close to Anna, feeling horrified of what she is seeing. The zombies occupied the front stairs. Isabella suggested to Anna that they take the side stairs. Isabella knows the school so getting through the school shouldn't be a problem. Both Anna and Isabella took the side stairs heading up to the 2nd floor. Seeing the 2nd floor is clear Isabella rushes into each classroom looking for her sister. Isabella tries calling her sister but she hears no answer. Anna rushes up behind Isabella telling her to keep her voice down because she would attract zombies to their location and this is not what they want. Isabella is worried sick for her sister, she checks every single room on the 2nd floor. Isabella realizes she didn't check the first floor because of the zombies. Isabella wanted to go back down to check but Anna says to her that it's too dangerous. Anna suggested that they both keep looking on the upper floors first, then check the first floor after. Isabella nodding to what Anna says. They both go up to the 3rd floor.

The 3rd floor had some zombies around. They both tried to ignore them by sneaking around them. They were both surprised that they both weren't seen. From a distance a scream can be heard, it sounded like a girl's scream. Isabella heard the scream and told Anna that "It sounds like my sister!". Isabella ran towards the direction the scream was coming from, leaving Anna behind. Anna ran after Isabella saying "Wait! Don't go alone, it's dangerous!" Isabella ran into the science class where she heard the scream. The girl who screamed was already was being eaten alive by the zombie. Feeling fear and anger at the same time Isabella picks up the broken chair leg and shoved it right through the zombie's brain. She then pulled the zombie away with the chair leg and looked at the girl.

The girl was not Isabella's sister. Isabella felt relief and sadness at the same time. Another zombie crept behind Isabella without her notice. The zombie's mouth aimed right at her neck. Almost getting bitten by a zombie, a man sliced the zombie's head in half with an axe, saving Isabella. Isabella turns around shocked, seeing another zombie's corpse at her feet. She jumps backward, this time falling butt first. Not realizing that she fell onto the corpse of the eaten up girl. Isabella gets up screaming, she runs to the man who appeared to look like a male teacher. The man held Isabella, he could feel her shaking in fear. Anna dashes into the room shouting Isabella's name. Anna was worried sick for her. Anna enters the room saying "What happened? Isabella are you okay?". She notices the man holding Isabella, Anna says with a suspicious look on her face "Who are you?" Anna holds her crowbar ready, holding her guard up. The man tells Anna "I am a teacher at this school, well... I was.". Isabella separates herself from the man's hold telling Anna "Don't worry! He saved me!".

Anna drops her guard and lets loose of the crowbar. Anna walked up to Isabella checking and asking if she was fine. She noticed blood on Isabella but Isabella told Anna the blood was not hers. The man stepped in to introduce himself. He says "Let me introduce myself. I am Chris, a teacher for class 205. I was off working hours when the outbreak occurred. So I just stayed put in the teacher's lounge." Anna asked "Are the other teachers still there at the lounge or have they left?" Isabella recognizes the class Chris mentioned "Class 205... That's the class my sister goes to! Please, do you know where my sister went when the outbreak happened?". Chris being asked two questions at the same time, he answers the question he deems more important.

Chris asks Isabella "What is her name?" Isabella replies "Jessie, her name is Jessie" The teacher instantly recognizes and replies "I know her. I saw her leaving the school with a few other students when it happened." Isabella replies with a worried face "So she's not here?" he tells her "I'm afraid not." Anna asks Chris "Do you know which direction they went off to?" He tells them "If I remember correctly they took a left, that path-" Isabella finishing off his sentence "Leads to the bridge?" Chris replies saying "Yes, correct." Anna says to Isabella "Let's go there." Isabella nods while saying "Yes, let's go!" Chris tells them "You two plan to go there alone? Not a good idea." Isabella suggests to him "Why don't you come with us?" Chris replies saying "It's not like I can say no." Isabella smiles as she now has one extra support added to the party. The three of them go off to leave the school and head for the bridge.

Ally clears the 3rd floor from zombies, leaving behind a bunch of zombie corpses on the ground. Ally has used the zombies as a target practice to improve on her martial arts skills. But unfortunately her kendo stick has become weak after all that beating. Ally decides to clear the way for the 2nd floor next. She moves down the 2nd floor hitting any undead that stands in her way. She searches for more undead creatures to kill before going another floor down for the ground floor’s exit.

On the 2nd floor Angelina grabs supplies to prepare for her journey. The supplies she grabs are mostly food and drink related like snacks, sandwiches, cans of soda, and bottles of juice. She checks the school's infirmary for medicine and picks up a few syringes to come in handy. After grabbing all of the supplies she needs, Angelina finally goes off to leave. As she was leaving there were a few zombies in the hallway including a bigger, taller zombie that looked like a teacher. Angelina raises her guard with her handy spiked bat she smashes the first zombie to approach her. Shortly after the first zombie approached another one came close. She then smashes the zombie causing its head to fly off its body.

Two more zombies approached Angelina from behind. One of them looking obese with the other looking like a nurse. It appears she may have been the school's nurse. With the obese man approaching first, Angelina hits it, causing the spikes from the bat to melt into its flesh and straight through its skull. The nurse approaches next, Angelina tries to pull the bat out of the obese zombie, but the bat got stuck. The zombie nurse leans in towards Angelina with its jaws wide open, about to take a bite out of her Angelina quickly dashes out of the way leaving her bat behind. Angelina runs towards a chair. She picks up the chair as the zombie nurse dashes towards her. She quickly swings at the nurse, taking her down with a hard swing. The nurse however isn't dead as it's only been taken down with a chair. Angelina drops the chair.

The tall zombie moves up towards Angelina from behind. Angelina quickly looks for another weapon. With no other weapon in sight and the bat being occupied inside another zombie's head Angelina makes a run for it. She quickly notices a tool table in a corner. Angelina runs towards it to quickly find a weapon. But with no luck in finding a weapon Angelina was left vulnerable. Angelina panics as the tall zombie approaches her. Angelina is cornered with nowhere to go. While in panic Angelina quickly turns around and tries again looking for another weapon on the tool table.

She opens all of the drawers and finds nothing. Angelina loses hope. But then she notices something under the tool table, it appears to be an electric hand drill. The zombie just inches away from Angelina she quickly grabs the hand drill. The zombie opens its jaws and strikes to bite Angelina's shoulder. Angelina quickly turns around and pierces the drill into the tall zombie's head, she turns on the electric drill, drilling the zombies brains. The zombie's blood splats all over Angelina's face, chest, and shoulders, she turns her head but the blood still spatters all over the side of her face and neck. Angelina screams to the top of her lungs while drilling the zombie’s brain to oblivion.

When Ally was about to go down the next floor Ally hears the scream that appears to be from a woman. Ally being nearby to the scream being heard she quickly runs over to the location to find who is in trouble. Running around the hallway corner she notices Angelina being cornered by a zombie. Ally runs over to help but as Angelina turns off the drill the zombie falls to the ground with no face left to even recognize who it was. Angelina is covered with the zombie's blood. Ally walks over to Angelina and asks her "Are you Okay?" Angelina looks at Ally with a dull look on her face, she says to Ally "No, I am covered in disgusting zombie blood for fuck sake. I am NOT Okay!".

Ally sees the zombie nurse crawling on the ground. It looks as the nurse is looking to attack Angelina's ankle. Ally steps over and pokes the kendo stick through its brain, the zombie nurse stops moving. Ally and Angelina are not the only people on the 2nd floor, Valeria and Jacob heard the scream from a distance away too. They both finally make it to investigate what happened but it appears to be that the commotion was already taken care of. Valeria looks at Angelina noticing that she is a mess, Valeria says "Damn, you look a mess." Angelina replies back saying "Yeah, No shit." Valeria offers Angelina a cloth to clean herself, Angelina takes the cloth, quietly saying "Thanks...".

Ally asks everyone "Were you guys going anywhere?" Jacob replies "Yeah, we were gonna leave this corpse infested school" Angelina replies "Same." Ally says to the group "It looks like we have the same motives." Jacob suggests"Why don't all of us leave together? That way we'll be able to cover each other’s backs from zombies while we fight." Angelina replies saying "That doesn't sound like a bad idea." Ally says "I'm in." Valeria replies "Same.". Angelina walks over to the obese zombie pulling out the spiked baseball bat from its head. Angelina says "Not leaving this baby behind." Ally stares at Angelina shaking her head at how she called the bat "Her baby". The crew all agreed to being together as a group, they all went together to leave the school.

In one of the storage rooms on the 2nd floor Carl and Bailey search for anything that can be useful as weapons. Carl finds a nail gun while Bailey finds a hammer. Bailey complains saying "I've searched this place for 10 damn minutes and all I can find is a damn hammer?!?" Bailey throws down the hammer finding it useless as it's only a close up weapon that could leave herself vulnerable. Bailey then notices Carl has found a nail gun. Bailey tells Carl "Give me that nail gun." Carl says "Why?" Bailey telling him "Because I doubt your fatass can use it." Carl tells Bailey "Hey! I've been playing shooting games since I was a kid. I'm sure I can handle a nail gun!" Bailey being too impatient to argue says "Whatever, fatass nerd." Bailey picks up the hammer she dropped earlier and tells Carl "Let's go.".

Bailey says before they go "Wait, I want you to lead the way." Carl asks "Why do I have to be in front?" Bailey tells him "Because you have a ranged weapon, Dummy." Carl being afraid to lead the way he swallows hard and wipes sweat off of his forehead. Carl walks out the storage door leading the way. Bailey and Carl enter the hallway, and down the hall they spot a group that looks to be a group of 4 people. Carl releases a breath of relief knowing him and Bailey aren't the only survivors. Angelina says to the group "Looks like we found more." Ally replies saying "the more the merrier.".

Valeria says to Jacob "Hey look! it's Bailey and Carl." Jacob replying "Oh yeah, it is." The group goes over to Carl and Bailey. Jacob asks them "Were you guys escaping too?" Carl saying "YES! I mean.. Yes." Bailey face palming at Carl's awkwardness, Bailey says "Glad I'm not the only one stuck here with this moron.". Ally mentions out of curiosity "I wonder if there are more survivors." Jacob says to her "Even if there is we can't take on everyone. We already have a party of 6." The group realizes they won't be able to hold much more people. They proceed in going to their destination which is the ground floor.

During the outbreak people tried to escape in their cars. The zombies overwhelmed them with their brute force. Toppling over cars onto their backs and sides. One of these toppled cars had a gas leak. In the parking lot in front of the school a teacher climbed on top of the school bus during the outbreak to avoid the zombies. The zombies cannot turn the school bus over as it is too heavy for them. 3:50PM in the afternoon the teacher was feeling stressed as he needed a stress relief, and so he took out a cigarette to smoke. He lit the cigarette with his lighter and started smoking.

While smoking he just stared at the zombies. He decides to tease them, pretending to offer his cigarette to them, and saying taunting phrases like "Try and get me, suckers!". While messing around with the zombies several bigger zombies came by the side of the bus. This zombies wore a football helmet and gear. These zombie appeared to be from the school's football team. As the big zombies approached the right side of the bus the teacher had his focus on the left side. He was still taunting the zombies without even knowing what approached the other side.

The large zombies smashed themselves onto the side of the bus, causing the bus to rock side to side. The teacher being shook, he says "What the..." the large zombies backed up away from the bus and stood in a football player's position. It's like even though the zombies are dead they still have the movement patterns of a human football player. The zombies charge at the bus at full speed pushing the bus really hard. Even though the bus looked as it was about to fall on its side it did not. However the teacher lost grip of his cigarette, the teacher dropped his cigarette onto the ground. The gas leaking from the car that got toppled earlier started leaking towards the bus where the man stayed.

The gas leaked towards the cigarette causing the gas leakage to set on fire. The fire lit up in a pattern from where the gas leaked from. The car got set on fire. The teacher realizing that the car is on fire he says "Oh no..." the car then explodes causing the man to be pushed off the top of the bus from the explosions impact. The teacher fell right into the group of zombies. Multiple zombies wasted no time eating his body. The man screams in pain. The zombies in front of the school got distracted by the explosion causing the majority of them to turn to its direction. The rest of the zombies linger around the front of the school.

Being far on the other side of the 2nd floor Anna, Isabella, and Chris head for the side stairs Anna and Isabella took earlier. The stairs appears to be now flooded with zombies as they can hear the zombies hissing while approaching the stairs. The 3 quickly back up from the stairs. Chris whispers "We need to take the front stairs. It's too dangerous here." Anna remembers that stairs being flooded with zombies too. Anna says "The stairs at the front entrance was flooded too." Isabella adds "Yeah, it was. Then we had to take the side one." Chris tells them "Maybe that way is clear now. We should go and see." Anna and Isabella nods. They proceed to go to the front stairs. Almost being near the stairs Anna, Isabella, and Chris heard an explosion. The explosion startled them. Chris says "What the hell was that?" Anna being worried she says "I hope that explosion doesn't lure them here.." Chris suggests they move fast just in case the explosion does lure the zombies into school grounds.

The other group hears the explosion too. Wondering where or what that sound was, Jacob suggests to the team that they rush to go find out. As the team agreed they all started running and headed to the front stairs. But on their way running to the stairs Carl asks Jacob "Hey, where is Matthew? I thought he would be with you guys." Jacob paused for a moment then tells Carl "He didn't make it..." Bailey and Carl had a shocked look on their faces. Carl asks "How did he..?" Jacob tells him "I'll tell you more later.".

On their way they found Anna, Isabella and Chris down the hall. Jacob says "Great... more people..." Jacob says this in an annoyed tone because he didn't want anymore people to be joining the group. Bailey says "We don't have to let them join us." Angelina says "It's just 3 more people. It's not like we're gonna suffocate." Ally, Carl, and Valeria agrees with Angelina. With it being 4 against 2 they walk over to the other group. Anna, Isabella, and Chris are relieved as they see more survivors. Chris wastes no time telling the others that they were heading for the bridge, Middlefort bridge to be exact. Jacob tells them "That's where we were all going as well.".

With all 9 of them heading to the same area they knew they were all on the right track. The group went to the front stairs. As they arrived, the stairs was clear, however quite a few zombies still swarmed the ground floor while a group of zombies were just outside the front entrance. Bailey just remembered something she forgot to tell the group. She then tells everyone to back up away from the stairs to not disturb the zombies.

Bailey shares her knowledge with everyone in a whispering tone "There are a few things I've learned from these things" She says "1. Because they are dead they can't see us. 2. Zombies can smell sweat and odor. And lastly 3. They can DEFINITELY hear us." Chris asks "How can corpses smell us? And are you 100 percent sure they can't see?" Bailey replies in an annoyed tone "Yes, I AM sure.". Anna comments saying "I guess that explains why they didn't notice us when me and Isabella snuck in." Isabella nods. Angelina says "Wait... so if I just came in quietly they wouldn't have noticed me?" Angelina shakes her head. Ally giggles at her.

Bailey clears her throat and puts both her hands onto her hips saying "Okay. Here is the plan, we need to sneak down the stairs without making a single sound. We can then charge in and attack." Ally says "Then what?" Chris suggests "We could grab one of the school buses to escape..." Bailey replies "Great idea! But who here knows how to drive?" Bailey lifts an eyebrow. Anna slowly raises her hand. Angelina butts in saying "Me! I think." Anna releases a breath of relief, she didn't want to test her "driving skills" on a bus. Valeria says "What do you mean ‘You think’?" Angelina says "Well I haven't driven a bus before." Jacob saying "Doesn't matter. Let's do this!".

The group slowly takes baby steps down the stairs, tiptoeing down the stairs as quietly as possible, the group have not been noticed. Leading the path was Carl and Jacob because Carl has a long ranged weapon and Jacob's weapon had a decent length. Almost halfway down the stairs Chris was holding his axe, preparing to fight. The all of the group almost makes it down the stairs, while going down Chris accidentally hits the head of his axe on the steel staircase railing. The entire group stopped and paused. Bailey looked straight at Chris gritting her teeth together and giving him a really annoyed look. The zombies turn their direction to the stairs. They start moving towards the stairs now knowing that humans are there.

Bailey says "GREAT! That's all we damn needed." Jacob tells the group "No turning back, we have to fight!" Valeria says "Right!" with the group having no way to turn back. The fight begins. Valeria rushes in first determined to take down the undead. Ally follows in straight after her hitting zombies left and right with her kendo stick. The rest of the group then joined forces with them to watch each other’s backs. Isabella doesn’t have a weapon in hand, she stands back while the others fight. A zombie lunges at Chris, Anna quickly takes it down with her crowbar Anna tells Chris "Be careful!" Chris nods. Anna searches for a school bus while in the fight, she doesn't spot any school buses that aren't damaged. Anna asks Chris "Any idea where we can find a bus that isn't damaged?" Chris points to Anna that there is a bus on the far left of the parking lot that is not damaged. Anna sees the bus and shouts out to the crew that they need to lead in that direction while fighting.

Ally whacks her kendo stick at a big zombie. Her kendo stick breaks as her stick has been weakened in earlier fights. A zombie throws itself at Ally's direction, Angelina counters it with just a swing of her trusty bat. Ally says to her "Thanks.". Angelina sees another zombie coming from behind towards Ally. Ally pulls a paintbrush out of her bag and stabs the zombie in its eye, it to fall to the ground. Angelina nods at Ally. Ally pulls out the paintbrush out of the zombie's eye. Isabella stands back behind the group without a weapon, a zombie creeps up behind Isabella. Anna turns around and notices the zombie but she’s too far from Isabella to protect her. Anna tries warning her, luckily Valeria already came up behind it, pushing the pipe straight through its, head making an exit through the other side. Isabella thanks Valeria but Valeria tells her "You need a weapon.".

Anna walks over to Isabella, she tells her to stay close to the group. Ally is now also weaponless, she stays close to Angelina while Angelina takes down zombies in one hit with the spiked bat. The group took down zombies one after another, more zombies came towards them. Jacob says to the group "This fight isn't going anywhere." Chris says "You're right. We need to go straight to the bus right now." Bailey tells him "But we can't just ignore these zombies. They will attack us as we go there." Anna comes up with an idea saying "What if two of us cleared the way for Angelina to get to the bus while the rest of us hold the zombies back?" Chris replies back saying "Good idea. But who will be clearing the path?" Anna suggests Valeria and Ally do so as those two clear waves the fastest. Angelina gives Ally her spiked bat, telling her "I swear you better take care of it." Ally replies "I ain't making no promises.".

Both Ally and Valeria rush in to clear the way for Angelina, Angelina stays close behind. Isabella fears the zombies closing in on the group, she falls back again, but this time too far behind. A fast moving zombie approaches her quickly. Isabella turns around and screams as the zombie jumps at her. Carl shoots the zombie in mid air with the nail gun. Feeling proud of himself he pats himself on the shoulder saying "YEAH! Years of playing shoot em' up games really paid off! Good job Carl!!" Bailey looks at him with a judging face saying "Behind you, Idiot!" Bailey whacks the zombie approaching Carl using full force with her hammer. Chris goes over to Isabella telling her "Perhaps you should stay behind me." he tells her "Don't worry. Just warn me if you see one approaching." Isabella nods, she was too frightened to speak. Isabella stays close behind Chris. For some reason even though Isabella doesn't know Chris, she feels safe around him, like she can trust him. But Isabella doesn't understand why she feels that way.

Valeria and Ally take down zombies, clearing the way quickly for Angelina. Angelina is impressed at the pace those two move at. They are like a unstoppable force smashing everything that stands in their way with swift and clean hit. Ally takes down the last zombie standing in the way. It was a little messy as she had to hit it twice in the head but at least she got the job done. Angelina steps on the mini stairway of the bus, throwing herself onto the driver’s seat. Valeria asks Angelina "Wait, do we have the bus key?" Angelina says "No, but I know how to hotwire." Ally looks at Angelina with a suspicious face asking "Where did you learn how to hot-wire?" Angelina tells Ally "None of your business.".

Angelina pulls out the wires and makes an attempt to hot-wire it. It’s not going as smooth as she hoped it would, the bus refuses to start. Zombies approach towards the bus. Ally tells Angelina "Hurry up. You're too slow!" Angelina tells Ally "Shut the fuck up, I'm trying to make this work." Valeria tells them both "I'll take out any that tries to get in.". The group still defends themselves against the zombies. Carl runs out of nails for his nail gun. He is left vulnerable. Carl tells Bailey "I've ran out of nails..." Bailey replies "Well if you haven't had wasted so many shots you'd still have some.".

Isabella sticks close behind Chris, she has not fell off into a distance this time. Jacob says "What is taking them so long?" Jacob's stick breaks in half after hitting another zombie. With 3 group members without weapons the fight starts to look bad on their end. Finally after the 7th attempt Angelina gets the bus running. Valeria squeals in excitement as they can finally get out. Angelina tells them to buckle up as she slams her foot onto the accelerate pedal. Angelina drives through zombies, bringing the bus as close to the group as possible. She slams her foot on the breaks. Valeria yells "GET IN!" everyone rushed into the bus.

Chris tells Isabella "Let's go!" but Isabella has zoned out. The hissing noises of zombies, the sounds of flesh being smashed into, have just become background noises in Isabella's mind. After she hears Chris's voice and realizing just a little too late what he said Isabella shakes out of her mentally zoned out state. She follows behind. Another zombie rushes up behind Isabella. Isabella screams. Chris quickly turns back to save her. Chris hits the zombie with his axe and tells Isabella "Go!" Chris whacks another zombie to defend them from her. Isabella looks back at Chris saying "But.." Chris looks back at Isabella and replies yelling to her "JUST GO!".

As Chris turned around to look in front of him a zombie dove right on top of him, eating away at the flesh on his face. Everyone on the bus stares in shock. Valeria turns her head away as she remembered what had happened to Matthew. Jacob squeezes his eyes shut in frustration. Isabella breaks out in tears saying "No... Chris!". Isabella becomes frozen as she witnesses Chris being eaten alive. Anna goes out to get Isabella. Anna tells Isabella "Bella please! Let's go." dragging Isabella into the bus. Isabella couldn't help but feel like he died because of her. Angelina drives off ramming into any zombies that stands in the way. The group's next destination was Middlefort Bridge.


	4. A tragic day

After witnessing people dying and being eaten alive by zombies the group sits on the bus silently, feeling all kinds of mixed emotions. They felt exhausted, scared, and depressed from the awful situation. They don't speak a word to each other. They don't even look at each other. Just looking at their faces you can tell they have indeed been through a lot.

Not being able to take the silence anymore the first person to break the silence was Bailey. She wanted to know more about what happened to Matthew. Bailey asks both Valeria and Jacob "Can you guys tell me what happened to Matthew? Last time I spoke with him was on the school balcony hours ago.". They both struggled to find their words. Valeria tells her "He got bitten by a zombie while we were running to safety. We thought he would be okay... but he quickly turned into one of them." Bailey says "What? How did that moron get himself caught like that? Knowing how much of a chicken he is you'd think he'd get away." Jacob tells her "He got bitten trying to save Valeria's life, that's how." Valeria turns her head to the window gritting her teeth, she feels guilty somehow. Carl says "Wow, I can’t believe he’s gone... I never thought he would risk his life like that." Bailey says "Yeah, the thought of him risking his life for someone would’ve never crossed your mind, unless you've known-" Carl says "Known what?" Bailey says "Uh, nothing." Bailey has quickly cut the conversation because she have just remembered that Carl has no idea about Matthew's feelings for Valeria, only she and Jacob knew.

Bailey says "Damn. Who would've thought his life would end like this..." Bailey looks down at the floor suddenly feeling sad. Jacob goes over to sit next to Bailey to comfort her. Jacob puts his hand on Bailey's shoulder but she shrugs him off. Jacob looks at Valeria, he suddenly feels angry looking at her, but he doesn't understand why he feels that way. Jacob says in a quiet voice while looking at her "Perhaps he would still be here right now if he didn’t risk his life for her...". From the way Jacob was looking at Valeria and the way his voice have sounded, it was like he was blaming her for Matthew's death.

Bailey raises her head and looks at Jacob saying "I think despite what happened, Matthew would feel happy." Jacob says "What do you mean?" Bailey says "He saved Valeria's life. I think a dummy like him would be happy knowing that he saved her life." she adds "So I'm saying at least he didn't die in vain." Jacob clenches his fist then releases it. He says "Yeah, you're right.". Although he says Bailey is right, deep down he still blames Valeria. However these feelings may soon pass when he realizes Matthew had done a great deed out of his own choice.

Valeria not being the only person on that bus feeling regret Isabella stares out the window looking at the Chaotic scenery while dripping tears. She cries silently, still in shock of what happened to Chris. Anna sitting next to her and noticing her crying she grabs Isabella's hand and tells her "I'm sorry." Isabella wipes her tears and looks at Anna asking her "Why? Why are you sorry?" Anna says "I'm sorry for what happened to you, not just you but everyone." Isabella replies saying "He died because of me." Anna tells her "No, don't say that!" Isabella says "But he did. I kept falling back in fear, like an idiot. And he tried to save me but I ended up getting him killed." Anna tells Isabella "It's not your fault! If anything I should've been there for you. So blame me instead!" Isabella tells her "But you didn't do anything wrong! Why should I blame you?" Anna replies "Because Chris was the one protecting you. I should've been there to protect you! What good am I if I can't protect my best friend?" Isabella says to her "You were defending us against the zombies. I didn't have a weapon... so I was useless. I only have myself to blame." Anna sighs as she doesn't know what else to say to her.

Valeria overhears the conversation, she can't stand how Isabella is beating up herself so she intervenes on their conversation, telling her "It's best not to beat yourself up over it. You'll only make yourself feel more like shit." she continues saying "The best thing to do is to not make it happen again and make up for it by staying alive. You wouldn't want to die knowing that someone protected you for nothing.". Isabella suddenly stops crying and realizes that Valeria is right. Isabella wipes tears from her face and says "You are right. Crying isn't going to bring him back. So I will do better in the future to make up for it!" Valeria tells her "That's the spirit!" Valeria feels calmer now that she has stopped Isabella from beating up herself. Anna was surprised hearing such words come from a teenager like Valeria. It just shows that she is more mature than she looks.

Wondering what happened to their families Anna suggests to everyone that they should try contacting their families. Isabella says to her "I've already tried but nobody answered..." Valeria says "Same. Nobody answered me either." Anna says "Let's try again?". They all pulled out their phones in attempt to contact their families. Angelina gave her phone to Ally telling her which number to call. Ally asks "Why me?" Angelina tells her "Because I'm driving and you've got the closest seat to me." Ally says to her "But Carl is sitting close too!". Angelina didn't want to tell Ally that she trusts her to do it, so she tells her "Just call the number!" Ally dials the number for her but she didn't get an answer.

Everybody kept dialing different numbers in hopes to get an answer or voice message but they received nothing. Just a voice prompt telling them that the numbers they've called are unavailable or busy. Everyone leaves a text or a voice message to their families to contact them back, they also let their families know that they're okay. But still, everyone has a worried look on their faces, wondering what could've happened to them. Anna lets out a deep sigh. Jacob puts down his phone and says "What we should really be talking about is how the hell did this happen." Bailey says to him "The outbreak?" Jacob says "Yeah." Anna says "I don't know. There was no warning on the news or anything." Isabella adds "Yeah, and it happened so fast."

Isabella continues "I don't think anyone saw this coming." Jacob says "Of course no one saw it coming, it all went down fast." Carl says "Maybe the military knows about it." Jacob says "I don't have a doubt that they do. But why aren't they doing anything about it? And if they knew why didn't they warn us on the news?" Bailey says "Perhaps it went down so fast even they couldn't control it." Jacob says "This is bullshit..." Anna tells everyone "Let's just calm down! Right now we should get to safety and worry about answers later." Angelina says "Yeah. Also where are we going once we get past the bridge?" everyone in the bus goes silent. Jacob says "Really? You guys haven't thought of where to go once we get past the bridge??" Anna says "We'll see once we get there. We don't know what awaits us yet." Jacob says "So we're just gonna rush in blindly? Great..." Ally says to him "Nobody knows what is happening there so how do you expect us to know?". Jacob looks very frustrated, he gets up to sit at the back of the bus alone and stares out the window.

Getting uncomfortable in the dark atmosphere Ally comes up with an idea, she says "Hey guys, how about we introduce ourselves?" Carl jumps in agreeing "Good idea! We never had the chance to introduce ourselves." Carl says "I'll start. I'm Carl! I'm just a kid who likes video games. Especially shoot em' ups!". Everyone on the bus introduces themselves saying their names. They start talking about what they were doing before the outbreak and what had happened to them during it. It was tough for some of them to talk about such a topic.

Jacob decides to ask "Hey Ally, how did you learn to fight like that with your kendo stick?" Ally tells him "I do martial arts." he says "Really? Who would've thought someone as small as you would do martial arts." she says to him "Who you calling small? I'll kick your ass!" he replies "Whoa chill! I was just surprised, that's all!" Ally lets out a loud "Hmph.". She then walks over to Angelina and asks her "How far are we to the bridge?" Angelina tells her "Not far at all.".

Angelina looks at the fuel gauge, noticing they're almost out of fuel. Angelina says "Shit!" Ally asks her "What's wrong?" Angelina says "We're almost out of gas." Bailey says in a sarcastic tone "Great!" Isabella tells everyone "Guys don't worry. There is actually a gas filling station up ahead!" Angelina says "Well that's lucky.". The group goes a couple miles ahead to get some gas. As they arrive the place seems clear with no zombies in sight. Angelina hops out of the bus to go fill the gas tank. Jacob, Bailey, and Ally steps out for fresh air while Valeria, Isabella, Anna, and Carl stay behind. Jacob tells Ally and Bailey "Let's go check the store for food and drinks." Bailey says "Alright." and Ally nods.

They walk into the store, glass shards were all over the floor along with store items. It seems to look like zombies stormed this area during the outbreak. The lights in the store were busted but the refrigerators were still running. Many items in the store were spoiled but there was still plenty to scavenge. At the back of the store a zombie was lingering around. It turns around and notice the three. Bailey notices it first, warning the Jacob and Ally. Bailey gives Jacob her hammer. Jacob slowly steps over to the zombie while holding his hammer up in the air ready to smack its brains open. The zombie slowly approaches Jacob, Jacob watches the zombie slowly approach him, he then gets a flashback remembering how Matthew approached him when he turned. Jacob freezes and gets a shiver down his spine. Once the zombie got close enough he smashes the hammer into its head. A piece of the zombie's scalp fell to the ground.

Valeria noticed Ally, Bailey, and Jacob went inside the store a moment ago. She decides to get up and leave the bus to check and see if the store has any of her favorite snacks. One of her favorite snacks is extra spicy hot Cheetos. Anna sees Valeria step off the bus, she turns her head to Isabella and asks her "Are you sure you don't want to step off for some fresh air? You could clear your mind." Isabella tells Anna "No, thanks. But, you can if you want." Anna says to her "I don't need any air, I'm okay." Isabella says to her "But... but I'd like to be left alone for a moment please, Sorry!" Anna says to her "It's okay! I'll be back in a bit.". Anna steps off of the bus, leaving Isabella on her own.

It is now only Carl and Isabella left on the bus. Angelina just finished filling the gas tank, she yells letting everyone know she's finished. Jacob, Ally, and Bailey came outside with a lot of snacks, sodas and sandwiches. Valeria walks pass them to head towards the store. Walking past them she notices that Bailey is holding a bag of Cheetos, Valeria squeals in excitement that one of her favorite snacks are there. She asks Bailey "Which side did you get it from? Bailey tells her "It's on the far left row.". Valeria rushes in to get some. Ally says "Wow, she must really like them." Bailey tells her "Yup, it's one of her favorite snacks." Jacob stays silent.

The three of them bring the snacks inside the bus. Valeria leaves the store with a lot of Cheeto bags. Anna comes over to her to help her carry some, Valeria says "Thanks." Anna replies "No problem.". Angelina asks the group if they're done grabbing the stuff they need, everyone says yes. She then hops back onto the bus, closing the bus doors. She was about to drive off until she hears a voice. The voice sounded like it was coming from a man, he spoke in a formal tone and sounded rather mature. Angelina opened the bus door to see who it was. The voice was coming from a man wearing a suit, a red suit to be precise. He wore a red suit with a purple and red striped tie. He also wore fancy black shoes and he had dark slick back hair and he was wearing glasses. Ally, Bailey, Valeria, Carl, and Jacob instantly recognized who he was.

He is the school's art teacher. An egotistic and arrogant man who claims to be "A man of class" Valeria says "Oh god.." Bailey silently whispers "Not this asshole...". The man says "Hello! Such a beautiful day, isn't it?". Standing behind him looked to be students from Middlefort Highschool. These students were from his class. The man introduces himself "How rude of me! I forgot to introduce myself." He says "My name is Richard. I was an art teacher at Middlefort Highschool. Well... until these treacherous creatures arose from the deep depths of hell and-" he says in a deep angry voice until realizing how his voice changed he says "My apologies! I got carried away there.". He brushes his hair back with his hand and fixes his suit and says "How would you like me to accompany you on your journey? I can be of great help to you and your group." Jacob butts in saying "Sorry but we are already full.".

Richard looks at the back of the bus saying "Really now?" he dabs his glasses and says "I suppose ghosts are occupying the free seats behind you?" Jacob looks behind realizing there are free seats at the back. Valeria says to Jacob "You fucked up." Anna leans over to the others and says "You guys seem bothered by him. What did he do?" Valeria tells Anna "He's just a stuck up asshole who thinks he's hot shit." Bailey adds "And his class is filled with a bunch of brain dead teenage girls." Anna looks out the window looking at the students, there does seem to be more female students than male. Anna says "I see.".

Angelina not being sure if she should allow Richard and his students on the bus she looks back at everyone and says "Should I?" Ally shrugs since she doesn't really care. Valeria says "It doesn't really bother me. As long as those thirsty asses stay away from my hot cheetos!" Bailey looking at him with an annoyed face she says "Whatever.". Everyone else nods. Angelina says "Okay." Richard looks at Angelina and smirks while saying "A wise choice. You won't regret it!" Richard turns around, looking at his students, he says "Come on students! Let me show you that your art teacher has survival skills unknown to mankind!" his students cheer while walking onto the bus. Bailey is still annoyed but she is also concerned. She hopes that she and the others can reach their destination without issues.

As the group was heading off to the bridge they saw cars and other people in the distance. Valeria stood up and pointed out saying "Look! There are other people!" Bailey says "Looks like we aren't alone after all.". People walking on the streets saw the bus passing by and wanted to get a ride. The people looked stressed and depressed. Some had bloody and dirty clothes and others had visible scars and scratches on their faces. They raise their hands waving at the bus. Some of the people were yelling "Hey! Please! Help us!" "Please let us have a ride!" "Save us!!!". Richard walked over to Angelina telling her "Don't allow anyone else on the bus! As you can see, we are already full." he says despite there being some space left.

Angelina tells him "Well, I had no intention of letting anyone else on the bus in the first place." she says this directed towards Richard and his students. However, Richard didn't realize what Angelina really meant by what she said. He arrogantly says "Good, I'm glad you agree with me." he smirks. Bailey gets up and sits next to Valeria, she tells Valeria "I really want to help those poor people on the streets but at the same time we don't want anymore trouble on our hands." Valeria agrees with Bailey saying "Yeah, if they give us trouble it would all be a waste of time.".

Isabella didn't like the fact that they left the people to walk on feet. She wanted to help them. Isabella says to Anna "We should help them!" Anna turns her head to Isabella's direction, saying "I want to help them too but we don't have many seats left..." Isabella tells her "We could let on as much as we can until we are full." she says to her "What if we run out of seats and then people start fighting?".

One of Richard's students behind Anna and Isabella overhears Isabella and interrupts saying "No! We don't need anymore people here!". Richard hears the student and walks over, he asks "What is going on here?" Richard's student says "This girl wants to bring strangers on the bus!" he says "Is that so?" he looks towards Isabella. Isabella says to him "We can't just leave people out there to suffer! We have a few seats left so let's just let a few people on!" Richard says to her "That is not a good idea." she stands up and yells "NO! These people are in the same situation as us! They are lost, depressed, missing families and friends... they don't even know where to go!" She continues "We shouldn't leave them to suffer! Remember, we decided to take you and your students on board... we could've declined and say no but we didn't. We-" Richard stops her before she could say anything else,

He says "The reason why you wanted me on board was because YOU need someone like ME to be able to survive! Let's be honest here.. if it were anyone else you all probably would've been dead by now. Anyone could've hijacked your bus and kill all of you because of how naive and gullible you all are!” he continues “For goodness sake we are in the apocalypse! No one has time for kindness in a situation like this. It's DO or DIE. Get that through your head! Think about it, those very same people who are begging for help and suffering, would they help you? Would they care? No. They would be selfish and only care for themselves. It was like that even before the apocalypse so why would that change now?".

Isabella being lost for words, she breathes heavily, feeling distressed. Richard brushes his hair back and clears his throat, he apologizes saying "My apologies! I let out a sudden anger without realizing." he pulls a handkerchief wiping the sweat from his forehead. Richard puts his hand on Isabella's shoulder and says to her "Trust me, dear. It's better if you follow my advice." Isabella not being sure what to say or do she sits back down in silence. Angelina, Bailey, Jacob, and Ally were giving Richard a dirty look but he didn't notice. Drowning in his own arrogance he fixes up his shirt collar and walks down the bus like he is a leader in control.

Finally they made it to Middlefort Bridge. Driving down the long bridge along with other people felt weird to Angelina because of what she went through earlier. But it made her feel better knowing not everyone is dead or a zombie. People were also traveling on the bridge on foot with their family, friends, and personal belongings. But what Angelina sees ahead down the bridge leaves her in worry. Apparently a huge wave of traffic awaits them down the bridge. Police are blocking the bridge, which is causing traffic.

The police are checking the people for bites or any other form of infections. Jacob says "Shit, what the hell.." Angelina says "It looks like we'll be here a while." Bailey says "Damn it! It's gonna get dark very soon..." Valeria asks "What time is it?" Anna checks her wrist watch and says "4:30pm." Valeria says "That's not good..." Richard barges in with a smirk saying "Do NOT worry everyone! I can persuade the police men to let us through quicker with no trouble at all!" he continues "Remember, I did say I would be a HUGE help to you.". He brushes his hair and fixes his shirt collar, then steps off the bus.

Angelina rests her forehead on the bus wheel and releases a sigh. Ally gets up and walks to her, she puts her hand on her back and asks her "You Ok?" Angelina lifts her head off the wheel and nods. One of Richard’s students complained about being hungry. Valeria starts to get worried as she just remembered she has Cheetos hiding on the bus. Another student got nosy and decided to search under the bus seats, the student found a few bags of Cheetos under the seat. The student says out loud "Hey!!! I found Cheetos!!" Valeria quickly gets up and says "Hey! That's mine! Don't take my-". The other students rushed over and dived into the Cheeto bags, other students kept searching, only to find even more bags of Cheetos. Valeria is helpless, she tried to save at least one bag. But with the brute force of Richard's savage students pushing and shoving each other away. There was no hope in saving any snacks or drinks found. Anna, Valeria, Ally, and Carl tried to stop them but they kept tearing the bags open and eating not only the Cheetos, but the other snacks and drinks scavenged too. Bailey puts her palm to her face while whispering to herself "I knew this was a bad idea" she sighs.

Richard walks down to the barrier where the police are to convince them to get a free pass in. He walks up to them saying "Hello! My name is Richard. I am an art teacher at Middlefort Highschool and-" the cop interrupts him saying "Listen pal, we have a lot of people to check and the bridge is full enough as it is. Get to the point or move." Richard feeling annoyed that he was interrupted he clears his throat and continues "Oh. My apologies! You see, I have a lot of young students on my bus and we need to get through before it gets dark. If you could let us through without any delay we would be really gratef-" the police officer interrupts once again saying "No can do. Everyone must be checked. We aren't risking having any infected people in a non infected area." Richard tries to convince them by saying "But I have young students on the bus. A lot of them aren't even 17 yet!" The officer says "Nope. Whether child or adult you must wait just like the rest. Now move along!". Richard looks angrily at the officer and clenches his fists. He turns around and returns to the bus with no luck.

Angelina sees Richard returning to the bus, she opens the bus doors. Richard walks into the bus stomping with his fists clenched. Bailey asks "Well? Did you convince them?" Richard replies saying "Unfortunately no. Those idiots have no idea what's coming." Carl asks Richard "What do you mean?" he says "Well.. once it gets dark the zombies will have more energy and overall be stronger." Richard's students gasp and start to mumble words among other. Jacob asks "How do you know that?" Richard says "You see it in the books and movies all the time. It makes sense." Anna says "We still have time, it's only 5pm." Richard says "Then that's an hour to get through before hell breaks out." Jacob butts in saying "I thought you said you have survival skills? Surely you can get us out of this, right?" Jacob says in a sarcastic way. Richard pauses for a moment and then says "OF course I can. I will think of a genius plan to get us out of this situation. Then surely you'll be thankful for having me here!" Jacob lets out a "Pfft" Richard says "For now, we will just wait a bit.".

The gang sits and waits silently while Richard's students whisper words to each other. 30 minutes has passed and traffic is still moving ever so slowly. The traffic moves so slow that Angelina has to turn the bus off just to save fuel. After Richard calms down he notices the bus is a mess. Crumbs from the snacks are everywhere. Richard asks "What happened here? Why is this bus a mess??" Valeria yells "THOSE ASSHOLES ATE MY CHEETOS!" one of Richard's students says "You were gonna hide it all for yourselves! So selfish!" Valeria says "BITCH! You and your hungry ass hoes ate all of it and now we have NOTHING!".

Richard butts in saying "Okay! Let's calm down now! Once we pass the bridge to reach civilization we can get all the snacks you need!" Jacob says "Never mind about food. It's been 30 minutes and we're still stuck here..." Jacob continues "I thought you had a "Genius" plan Richard... looks like you’re just a clown." Richard tells him "Watch how you talk to me, boy! It's Mr. Richard." Jacob says "Whatever." Richard says "I do have a plan, in fact.. I'm going to set that plan in motion right now!" Richard walks to the bus door and says "Angelina, dear. Open the doors." Angelina replies back saying "Don't call me ‘dear’" she then opens the bus doors. Richard replies saying "Okay, dear!" he steps off the bus. Angelina gets annoyed at him.

Bailey leans over to Valeria and says "This isn't going to end well." Valeria says "You mean with Richard or?" Bailey replies saying "I mean the whole situation. It's already getting dark." Ally walks over to Angelina telling her "You know we can't rely on this asshole Richard, right?" Angelina says "Of course." she continues "If his plan doesn't work I already have something planned" Ally asks "What is it?" Angelina asks Ally to lean in closer, she then tells Ally "I'm gonna ram the bus through the traffic." Ally says "No way! What if we get arrested?" Angelina says "It's better being locked up than to be out here being a meal for zombies." Ally realizes Angelina may be right, and so she nods and returns to her seat. She braces herself for what is coming next.

It's now 5:34 pm. The police officer Richard tried to convince earlier walked off to go speak with the police chief. He went to the chief and said "Chief, it's getting dark, what will we do with the rest of the people?" the chief replied saying "Leave them. We have to close off the bridge before those damned zombies get in." the officer replied "But chief.." the chief stops him saying "Don't give me that ‘But’ shit. If you want to kill yourself helping a bunch of idiots that came late then you go ahead. I am closing this bridge off right now!" the chief commands the rest of the officers to prepare for closedown.

Richard makes his way down the barrier, he sees a bunch of police officers coming over. Richard waves, saying "Hey! I've came back to make an agreement with you!" the police officers pull out their batons and start shoving people away from the barrier. Richard runs back away from the barrier yelling "HEY! What the hell is going on?? I thought you were helping us?" the officer Richard spoke to says "Nope, sorry! It's getting late and we MUST protect the city." Richard in disbelief he starts to panic. He begs the officer "Please! Just let me and my students through! You don't have to let anyone else in-" the officer pulls out a gun and points it at Richard. Richard raises his hands and yells "OKAY!! OKAY!! I won't bother you anymore!" he says while stepping back. People start fighting back at the officers, forcing themselves over the barrier and rushing through. Many people were yelling saying "You bastards! You said you will let us through!" "Liars!" "Let us through now!!!". The police started getting violent. They shot anyone that tried to force themselves through. Richard ran for his life, heading back to the bus.

Everyone on the bus heard the gunshots, Richard's students started panicking. Carl asks "What's happening?" Angelina notices that people are running backwards, she says "Are they... shooting people?". Suddenly screams could be heard from behind and people started changing direction once again pushing forward. The zombies have come and they are faster and stronger than they were earlier in the afternoon. The zombies are forcing the people to push forward over to the barrier. The police cannot hold back any longer.

The chief orders them to evacuate. Angelina tells everyone "Buckle up! We're getting out of here!" one of Richard's students said "Wait! What about Mr. Richard!" Jacob says "Fuck Richard. We have us to think about." Angelina starts up the bus engine. Richard rushed to the bus door and started knocking heavily while yelling "HEEEY! LET ME IN!" Angelina opens the bus door and then Richard falls inside the bus. Angelina then quickly closes the bus door. The student says "Mr Richard! You're okay!" Richard breathes heavily saying "Yes... I'm-" before he could finish his sentence Angelina smashes her foot on the accelerator. Richard falls back hitting his head on the bus seat. The crew screams as Angelina rams the bus through any traffic blocking the way. She was determined to get her and her friends out alive.

Night begins to fall and everyone is in panic. The police officers evacuate the barrier but it was too late for some of them. Zombies charged at them with brute force, taking them down and biting into their skin. Some of the officers were taken down by the people they were holding back as revenge for what they've done to them. As people escaped to the other side of the bridge they thought they were heading into freedom, that was until there was also zombies coming from the other side. The zombies rushed into them, taking them down and eating them alive. Angelina rushes through the zombies while trying her best to avoid hitting the people.

Some of the students on the bus screamed as they noticed zombies grabbed onto the back of the bus. The zombies are being dragged as they held onto the bus. Angelina steers the bus left to right, shaking them off. Richard gets up while holding his head saying "No need to fear everyone! We are going to be- AAAAH" Richard screams as Angelina rushes through the police cars. Richard falls on the floor again. Finally they crew have gotten off the bridge of hell and everyone calms down. Although they are finally on the other side there are still dangers lying ahead. Bailey sees the chaos that is happening on the other side and says "I thought the other side was safe?? It looks just as bad as Middlefort if not worse." Jacob says "I knew it. I knew it wasn't going to be completely over." Angelina asks the crew "Where to now?" Anna replies "I don't know but we definitely can't stop. It's too dark and dangerous." Isabella adds "And we still have my sister to look for.".

One of Richard's students said "We're gonna die!!!" they cry causing all of the other students to start crying too. Valeria says "Oh boy..." Richard struggles to stand up and says "It's okay students! Don't worry! I have just the perfect idea of where to go." one of Richard's students ask "Where to Mr. Richard?" Richard says "To Belwerth of course!" Angelina says "Belwerth? I've never heard of that place?" Richard replies saying "Of course you haven't! It's a newly built paradise and I've always wanted to go there." Richard pulls out a piece of paper out of his pocket, it appears to be a poster about Belwerth. Richard says "Look! Do you see how beautiful this place is? I have no doubt this place is our rescue!" Bailey asks him "So you want us to trust your "instincts" on this place that you've NEVER been to before?" Richard replies "Bailey, darling. I told you I can help you and your friends out of this hell-ish situation. Just watch me!" he smirks. Angelina being confused she asks the crew "Should... we go there?" Richard butts in saying "Of cour-" Angelina interrupts saying "I'm asking my friends, not you." Richard tries to compose himself not get angry.

Everyone stays silent because they aren't sure themselves. Richard smiles knowing that he may get just what he wants. Angelina notices that Ally was going to say something but it looks like she held back. Richard asks "So that's a yes, yes?" Angelina sighs and says "I guess." Richard claps his hands together saying "Splendid! Angelina’s always making the right choices, to trust me!" Angelina gives him an annoyed look because it's not like he has given her any choices.

Isabella taps on Anna saying to her "What about my sis?" Anna replies saying "It's dark and it's not safe for us... Let's find some shelter first okay?" Isabella's eyes begin to tear up. Anna holds Isabella's hand and looks into her eyes, she tells her "I'm sure your sister has found shelter too. You wouldn't want us to get hurt while looking for her in the dark, right?" Isabella nods. In the end they all agreed to go where Richard recommended them to go. The crew hopes to find help and shelter as they travel through the dangerous night.


	5. Finding shelter in a scary night

Traveling in the dark with no food or water the crew travels out of the city to go to an unknown "paradise" called Belwerth. The city is in chaos, unrecognizable road signs, empty vehicles with broken windows, buildings on fire, stores broken into and destroyed, several street lights damaged and stray zombies lingering around in the darkness. Angelina has been driving the bus for several hours without rest. She shows signs of fatigue in her eyes and she hasn't consumed any food or liquids for hours. Anna has noticed Angelina's exhaustion and decides to ask "Angie, are you okay?" Angelina is lost in a trance. Anna gets up and puts her hand on Angelina's shoulder, she says "Angie?" she shakes out of her trance saying "Huh? Oh.." she asks Anna "Why did you call me Angie?" Anna says "Oh, I thought it would be quicker to call you that. Are you alright?" she replies "Yeah, I'm fine.".

Although Angelina says she's fine Anna knows she is tired. Anna wants to help her but she and Isabella have little to no experience in driving, and everyone else on the bus are minors. Anna walks over to Richard’s seat and asks him if he has any experience in driving, he says "I only know how to drive a car, however, I've never driven a bus." she says to him "Angie didn't have experience in driving a bus either." he replies "Well... as I said I have no experience and I have no interest in driving a bus anyway." Anna says "But she's tired." Richard says "And so am I. Besides, she's doing fine!". Richard gets up and walks to the back of the bus to lay down, he removes his shoes and puts his arms at the back of his head. Richard says to Anna "Listen, we're almost out of the city. Once we get to Belwerth she can have all the rest she needs!" Richard yawns and then shuts his eyes. Anna gives him an angry stare, it's like she is cursing him inside of her head, Anna walks away from him.

Anna walks over to Carl and asks him if he wants to swap seats with her, Carl asks "Why?" Anna tells him "I need to keep an eye on Angie and make sure she doesn't fall asleep." Carl says "Oh, ok." he gets up and takes a seat next to Isabella, Isabella is sleeping. Anna sits down and keeps an eye on Angelina. Angelina surprisingly still has her eyes open, but it's also very obvious that she looks like she could pass out at any given moment.

Angelina follows the road directions while checking the location on the poster that Richard gave to her. As Angelina was about to take a turn to the right she had realized that they have to drive through an underground tunnel, Angelina hits the breaks to stop for a moment. Anna asks "What happened? Why did you stop?" she replies "It's an underground tunnel." Anna says "Oh?" Angelina says "It's too dark in there to see shit. There could be hoards in there." Jacob says “Well it’s not like we have a choice, just go in.”. Richard sits up from his seat he was laying on and says to Angelina “Wait! Isn’t there a safer way we could go?” Angelina replies “I don’t think so.” Jacob says to Richard “What? Are you chickening out now, Richard? I thought you had a so-called “paradise” for us to seek refuge from.” Richard gets flustered and says to him “Listen. Boy. I do have a plan, but we can’t proceed with that plan if we’re just going to die.” Jacob replies “So what do you suggest we do, Richard? Sit here and wait for the zombies to claw their way into the bus?” Richard goes silent, he backs down realizing there is no other way. Jacob says to Angelina "Well? Are we going to wait here like sitting ducks to die or are we going to get to safety?" showing strong signs of fatigue Angelina takes a deep breath and starts the engine back up to enter the dark risky tunnel.

The crew travels a long way through the tunnel. Angelina drives slower because she can't see what's ahead of her, not even the headlights can reveal much. Everyone on the bus is tired and scared. Some of Richard’s students fall asleep while others struggled to fall asleep in fear. Valeria says "This is scary..." Bailey says to Valeria "It's not like you to be scared." She replies back "Well this is my first time entering a dark tunnel with zombies so..".

While driving Angelina sees several zombies walking up to the bus. Some of Richard’s students freak out, causing the other students to wake up from their sleep. Angelina drives through the zombies, running them over. The zombies get dragged under the bus, the bus shakes like they're driving over bumps. Richard hits his head a couple of times because of the bus shaking. He gets up feeling annoyed. Richard says to Angelina "Can't you drive a little smoother?" Angelina replies "Not my fault the zombies want to hug the bus. Deal with it." Richard says "Ugh. Anyway, from my map directions it looks like we are getting close!" one of Richard's students says "Really??" in excitement. Richard says "Yes, my dear! From the description they say the place is a massive landscape surrounded with walls! It has really big houses inside too, kind of like an estate really. I have no doubt this will be our freedom!" Jacob says "Freedom? We're just gonna be surrounded by walls." Richard replies "You talk too much, boy.".

As they continue through the tunnel a zombie throws its entire body at Richard’s side of the window, Richard jumps out of his seat and screams. He looks around to see if anyone has noticed him screaming, he feels embarrassed. Richard fixes his tie and clears his throat, he noticed a faint light up ahead. Richard says "I can see some light up ahead! Could that be the exit?" Valeria says "If it is then FINALLY! I was getting anxiety traveling through this tunnel. How long were we in here again?" Angelina replies "At least over an hour now." Valeria says "Damn.".

Finally the crew exits the tunnel, only to meet chaos once again through the other side. Bailey says "Looks like this side isn’t much different either." Jacob says "Damn it! These dead shits are everywhere." Richard says "We are so close to our destination now! Quick, let’s get there." Angelina says "Where to?" Richard says "Just take a left straight down the road and then turn right and go down a little further. Then we should see a giant wall surrounding a huge landscape with a huge gate!". Angelina follows the directions Richard has given her. Once the crew reaches their destination an unexpected fate meets them.

The crew arrived to their destination but it was nothing the crew had expected. It was a giant fence put together with wooden planks along with lamp posts lighting up around the area, definitely not good enough to ward off zombies. Angelina stops the bus in front of the giant wooden gate and asks Richard “Is this it...?” Richard says “No.. this can’t be the place. It looks nothing like what is shown on the poster.” he continues “Maybe you’ve got the wrong gate, maybe it’s further down.” Angelina saying “Well you should know whether this is the right place or not, you’re the one that brought us here.” Richard pauses in confusion. Jacob says “Well, there is a giant sign on the fence called ‘Welcome to Belwerth!’ so...” Richard gets up from his seat and says “Humph, I’ll go and look for myself. I am 100% sure this is not Belwerth though.”. Richard walks up to the bus door, Angelina opens the doors for Richard to step out, Richard steps off the bus and walks up to the gate. He notices the wooden gate already has an opening. It was not locked. Richard pushes the giant doors open for the crew to get in. Angelina drives the bus inside. The crew gasps at what they see inside of Belwerth, some of the other students wake up wondering what was happening.

Debris was scattered all over the place with a cheap sign that says "Belwerth project". It appears to be that the place was nowhere near construction. Or could straight up just be a scam. Most of the crew stepped off the bus to go outside and look. Richard walks onto the landscape, staring at the "paradise" he raved about. Richard was in disbelief, expecting a paradise to rest from for a day, instead, meeting a dead dark land with debris and some rotten zombie corpses.

Richard's students paused and said "Mr. Richard! What is this? I thought you promised us to go to a paradise..". Richard freezes staring at the empty and dead landscape. His blood begins to boil as he realizes he has been deceived by the poster he found. He gets angry and yells "WHAT?!? THIS IS THE PLACE THEY WERE TALKING ABOUT? THOSE LYING SCUMBAGS!" he clenches his fists and grits his teeth while breathing heavily. Jacob says "So this is what we meet after driving for over an hour...”.

Isabella wakes up only to see Carl sitting next to her instead of Anna. She asks Carl "Where's Anna? And what's going on?" Carl explains the whole situation to her. Ally stares at the empty landscape, it looks like she has thoughts on her mind. Angelina remembers earlier that Ally had something to say, she walks over to Ally asking her "Earlier on the bus it looked like you had something you wanted to say, what was it?" Ally replies "It's nothing." Angelina says to her "Are you sure? If it's an idea it would be better than anything Richard says at this point." Ally replies "It's pointless anyway. I don't know the location, and I can't contact my friend so..." Angelina sighs, feeling hopeless on what to do next. She sits on the nearest rock to get a little bit of rest.

Jacob says to everyone "It's literally way past midnight now, we have no idea what the hell to do or where the hell to go. Carl suggests "We should go to the nearest military base." Jacob says "And then what? Get welcomed in with open arms? Don't be stupid." Carl replies "It's our only hope...". Richard says "Even if we did go there you do realize it's quite far, right? Perhaps we should find a safe house first." Jacob replies saying "I'm not following your dumbass suggestions again. You made us travel this far only to find nothing but an empty land of shit!" Bailey says "Although I hate him as much as the rest of us do you must admit he does have a point. Going straight to a military base is far-fetched. We should rest up first before even thinking of going straight there." Jacob says "And rest where, Bailey? We don't have anywhere!" Bailey says "And we aren't in good condition or health to be thinking of going straight to a military base." Jacob argues back saying "I wasn't even the one suggesting the military thing in the first place!" Bailey says "Okay then smartass, where to then?" Bailey and Jacob continue to argue back and forth. Angelina interrupts saying "Shut the fuck up and listen. The first thing we should be thinking about doing is going back to the fucking city. Not arguing about who has the right ideas." Anna asks Angelina "Are you sure you're in good health to drive back?" Angelina says to Anna "It's not like I have a choice.".

Angelina gets up from the rock she was sitting on, she steps onto the bus and hops back onto the seat. She was determined to go back. Everyone gets back on the bus in silence. Ally's mind is still lost in thought. But what is she thinking about? Could she have an idea?

The crew travels back in silence, not even looking at each other or speaking a word. Angelina's physical state is looking worse by the minute. Anna keeps a close eye on her. While driving Angelina daydreams, she thinks about funny moments with friends and family, remembering all the silly things she has done with them.

Angelina takes a turn for the tunnel. In the distance there was a dark shadow figure standing by the entrance of the tunnel, Angelina had not realized yet due to her exhaustion. As she turns, she sees the figure at the last moment, almost knocking the mysterious figure down. She quickly snaps out of her daydream, slamming her foot on the breaks and steering the bus to another direction.

The bus crashes into a pile of crashed cars that were set on fire, everyone feels the impact of the crash. A minute after the crash Richard gets up while holding his head, he has a scar his forehead. He says "Ugh... is everyone alright?".

Everyone gets up groaning in pain. Angelina has a big cut on the side of her head, the blood oozing out of the scar drips down the side of her face. Everyone else has bruises or minor cuts on their body. Isabella lifts her head up, holding her head in pain. She looks outside and sees the mysterious man staring at the bus. He looks like the guy from the flower shop she and Anna met at the mall earlier. He was wearing all black clothes with a hoodie and a bag over his shoulder. He quickly runs through the tunnel and fades into the darkness. Isabella yells "HEY!" Isabella stumbles to get up, she steps out of the bus and runs towards the tunnel. Anna quickly notices and runs after her, yelling "ISABELLA! WAIT!" Anna stumbles and trips out of the bus, running after her. The others wonder what's happening, they see Anna and Isabella running towards the tunnel.

Anna catches up to Isabella, she grabs her shoulder and says "Wait!" Anna pants trying to catch her breath, she says "Where the hell are you going?" Isabella quickly tries to explain saying "The flower shop boy! I saw him... he was standing at the tunnel and he ran!" Anna says "What?" Anna was confused.

While Isabella was trying to explain things to Anna one of the crashed cars close to the tunnel entrance was leaking with gas and the vehicle was on fire. Anna and Isabella were standing right by the entrance. Anna felt her boots getting soaked, she looked down to her feet only to find a trail of gasoline sliding towards her. Her eyes followed the leakage to where it was coming from. It was coming from a crashed car that was already smoking with fire. Anna says to Isabella "Isabella... RUN!" Anna grabbed Isabella, they quickly ran inside the tunnel. The car blows up in flames triggering off any cars next to it to also explode. Everyone inside the bus on the opposite side of the road bent down and covered each other from the blast. Anna and Isabella dived onto the floor inside the tunnel and covered each other.

The explosion caused the roof of the tunnel to collapse causing huge blocks of debris to fall and block the road way. Anna, Isabella and the crew were blocked off from each other because of the debris. Valeria, Ally, Angelina, and Jacob exit the bus running to the blocked tunnel. Valeria yelled "ISABELLA! ANNA! ARE YOU GUYS ALRIGHT???" Anna and Isabella lift their heads up from the ground. Their faces were covered in scratches and Isabella has a cut on her cheek. They slowly get up, feeling slight pain and bruises on their body through the crash and explosion impact. Anna hears the yell from the other side, she yells back "WE'RE OKAY!!" Angelina has a breath of relief.

Ally asks "How will we get to them now? There is no way we can move this..." Jacob says "Definitely not! Look behind us!" Angelina, Ally, and Valeria turn around only to see a group of zombies heading their way. Angelina says "They must be attracted to the fire!" Ally asks "How do you know?" Angelina says "When I was escaping the office earlier the zombies crowded around the fire." Valeria says "Shit, what do we do now?" Ally asks Anna and Isabella "Hey, can you guys climb?" Anna says "No. It's impossible!" Richard's students inside the bus screams "AAAAH, THEY'RE GETTING CLOSER!" Anna quickly decides that the crew should get away ASAP. Anna says to them "Guys! Just leave without us..." Valeria says "No! We can't just leave you there." Anna says "You have to! You're going to die if you stay." Isabella agrees saying "I agree! You can meet up with us later!" Ally says "How would we know where to find you??" Anna says "We'll either be at the other side of the tunnel or Greenhill Mall. You know where that is, right?" Angelina replies back saying "Umm, yeah!" Anna says "Alright! Now run!".

They feel hesitant to leave Anna and Isabella all on their own in the tunnel filled with zombies, however, the crew make a run back to the bus, smacking any zombies that stands in the way. Angelina turns the key but the bus refuses to start. Richard's students panic saying "Hurry up!" Angelina replies saying "I'm trying for fuck sakes." she finally got the engine to start. Angelina reverses the bus, knocking any zombies in the way and then takes a turn to a different direction.

Being split off from the others Isabella asks Anna "What do we do now? It's dark and scary down here." Anna says "We have no choice but to go back on foot." Isabella says "But what about those zombies? We don't have a weapon!" Anna says "Then we'll find a weapon!" Anna walks up to the fallen debris and looks for something usable as a weapon, she found an iron rod which may come in handy. Anna says "Let's go! We may not be able to see but we have to try." Isabella says "Oh wait.." she checks the small pouch she is carrying, she pulled out a torch and turned it on. She says "It's dull but at least we can see a bit." Anna says "Wow! I guess you're my lucky charm." she says with a smile. Isabella blushes saying "Nah, I was just fortunate to have found one before we got here." Anna says "Yes but without you there wouldn't be a torch. Which makes you my lucky charm!" she says with a blushing smile. Isabella says to her while trying to get the blush off her face "If you say so. Shall we go?" Anna nods and the two of them start making their way out of the tunnel.

Angelina and the others have taken a different path to get back to the city. Everyone is starving and no one has drunk anything for hours. While taking the long way Carl had noticed a store in the distance. The store lights are working and there seems to be some goods there. Carl says "Hey look! There is a store over there.". Everyone looks out of the window to see. There is a 24/7 store and it looks free from zombies. The crew decided to check it out and see what they can get from there. Once Angelina parked the bus Richard's students came charging out of the bus rushing in for snacks. Valeria whispered "Savages." as she steps off the bus. Ally stares at her phone while stepping off the bus. Bailey asks her "What is it?" but Ally says "It's nothing.".

They step into the store and open up some snacks and drinks to get their energies back up. Bailey suggested "Maybe we should rest here for a bit? It seems clear and secure and we're all exhausted." they all agreed to rest in the store for a bit. After Angelina ate several snacks and a drink she passes out on the floor and falls fast asleep. The others also passed out, only Ally and Valeria are awake. Valeria takes a seat where Ally is sitting and asks her "Wassup?" Ally replies "Nothing." Valeria asked "How comes you're looking at your phone?" Ally says "No particular reason. Just hoping someone replies." Valeria says "Aren't we all hoping for some kind of reply?" Ally replies "Yeah.." Valeria gets up and stretches while yawning, she then says "Imma go take a nap, Cya." Ally says "Goodnight." however Ally decides to still stay awake. She plays with her phone for a little until she started feeling sleepy. She turns off her phone to save battery and then slowly falls asleep.

Anna and Isabella travel through the pitch black tunnel. They can hear zombies shrieking in a distance. Isabella gets scared and walks close up to Anna. While walking Anna was deep in thought, she said "That guy..." Isabella says "What?" in confusion but she then she quickly remembers and says "Oh." Anna asks her "Are you sure it was him? Did you see his face?" Isabella being sure she says "Yes, I am sure! I saw his face clearly and it was him." Anna starts to wonder and say "But what was he doing by this tunnel all alone? And why did he run?" Isabella said "That's what I wanted to know too!" Anna started to have suspicions and told Isabella "If we see him don't let your guard down. He could be a threat." Isabella says "Why?" Anna replies "He stood in the middle of the road knowing a bus is coming, then after the crash he stands there knowing that someone will see him, and then he runs just before the roof of the tunnel collapses? Not a coincidence." Isabella says "Ooh smart!" Anna says "Not smart, just common sense." Anna continues "But yeah just keep your guard up!".

A zombie approaches Isabella and Anna. Isabella says "Anna..." Anna replies "I got it." Anna raises her iron rod ready to attack, when the zombie got close enough she swung the rod into its head and the zombie went down. The two continued to take a long walk down the tunnel without stopping, hitting several zombies along the way. Finally after a super long walk they can see a light at the end of the dark tunnel. Isabella points "Hey we made it! But look.." some zombies are at the end waiting for them. Anna gets in a defensive stance as she approaches them, she hits them directly in the head one at a time taking them down. A bigger zombie started to approach Anna but she didn't want to risk taking it on. She tells Isabella to run right past it.

While running Isabella says "They are moving a lot slower than they were earlier." Anna replies "Daylight must be approaching." Isabella asks “Do you think daylight slows them down?” Anna says “It looks to be that way.”.

Finally they exit the tunnel, fortunately unscathed. Although they have made it out, there were no sign of the others. Isabella asks "Where do you think they are? And do you think they're okay?" Anna says "I don't know. I don't expect them to make it here quick though, it's still dark." Isabella says "True. So what now?" Anna says "We find somewhere to rest a little." Isabella says "Okay.". while looking for a safe place to rest Anna spots a short steep hill near the tunnel, it’s surrounded by a highway fence. They climb up there to rest knowing that the zombies can't reach them from there.

Its 4:00 AM at the 24/7 store and the crew are in deep sleep, but they are not safe. Several zombies approach the store, they can sense that people are inside. The store's doors are closed, however, they are not secure. Zombies start scratching at the door trying to get inside. One of the zombies finally gets a grip of the glass door and slides it open. No one hears the zombies. The zombies start walking inside one by one, one of the zombies approaches the nearest target who is Jacob. The zombie walks up to Jacob and kneels down to the ground. The zombie grabs Jacob's arm and takes a huge bite from his arm, ripping away the flesh from his arm. Jacob wakes up screaming in agony as the zombie rips into his arm. He wakes up the others with his scream but the other zombies have already grabbed them. A zombie bit into Bailey's cheek. Bailey screams "AAAAH, HELP MEEE!". The zombies hold onto her, keeping her down to the ground. They all bite into parts of her body, eating her. The majority of Richard's students got attacked and it was already too late. Richard gets up and runs to the front door trying to escape but 3 zombies grab onto him taking him down and eating him alive. He screams in pain until the screaming stopped.

Ally woke up and saw her friends get eaten right before her eyes. She tried to save some of her friends but it was far too late. She then runs to the back storage room in the shop to get out by the back door. She opened the storage door only to find a group of zombies locked inside the storage. She backs away back into the store but she is trapped by both sides of zombies. The zombies approach her but Ally cannot defend herself because she is weaponless. She backs up into a corner with nowhere to go. The zombies then dived onto her eating parts of her body piece by piece. Ally didn't scream, but instead she cried while being eaten alive until she blacked out and her breathing stopped.

Ally sits up from her resting position abruptly, sweating with her heart beating fast and breathing heavily. She had a nightmare.

Ally stood up in fear and checked everyone, everyone was still sleeping. She checked the door and the door was untouched. Ally has a sigh of relief, she wiped the sweat off of her head and laid back down to get some more sleep but she could not go back to sleep after she was shaken from her nightmare. She checked her phone, her phone battery is at 30% and the network signal was only at 1 bar. She decided to get up and go outside to try and get a stronger signal. Before doing so she grabs Angelina's spiked bat before stepping outside. Ally steps outside and holds her phone in the air, the signal bar gradually goes up by 1.

She steps out further until she could get at least 4 bars. 4 bars was the highest signal she could get, but still no response from her family. Ally sighs and tries to call someone, there was no answer. She tries to call again but the phone was taking too long to pick up. She was about to turn off her phone and go back inside to sleep, but before she did she got the answer she was looking for. Ally was shocked that her friend had answered her call.

Her friend says "Hello?? Ally are you there?" Ally pauses for a moment still being shocked that her friend is okay. She answers "Yes, I’m here. Is everything okay over there? What is happening?" Ally's friend tells her "Everything is hectic where I'm at. In fact I'm actually not in the right place to talk right now." Ally replies "Oh.". Her friend continues "Don't worry about me though. I'm fine. I'm more concerned for you..." she asks "Do you have shelter? I have a safe place but I can't help you right now. If you can survive a few hours I can help you out." Ally tells her "We are resting somewhere but it's not exactly safe." her friend asks "We? Are you traveling with someone?" Ally says "Yes. A group of people actually." her friend replies "I see. Well I hope they are trustworthy people. Ah shit, I have to go. I'll call you back in 2 - 3 hours." Ally says "I- Okay." her friend tells her "Take care and don't die on me, OK?" Ally replies saying "Got it." her phone call ends. Ally is still relieved that at least someone she knew was still alive. She switches off her phone and goes back inside to nap. Ally falls asleep with ease knowing that there might still be hope that the other people she knows are still alive.

Anna and Isabella are still taking a rest on the hill. Isabella wakes up from the sounds of scratching and shrieking noises from the zombies. Apparently zombies are surrounding the area but they cannot climb. The highway fence doesn't make it any easier for the zombies.

Isabella gets scared a little and crawls over to Anna. Isabella says "Anna! Anna!!!" but Anna was still asleep. Isabella shakes Anna out of her sleep. Anna opens her eyes, Isabella was looking down at her. Anna turns her head around and looks at her surroundings. She quickly sat up and wiped her tired eyes. Isabella says to Anna "We're surrounded! How are we going to get down from here now?" Anna yawns and then tells her "Don't worry! I have a rod, remember?" Anna then started stretching her arms and legs to shake out of sleepy mode. Anna slowly stood up and grabbed the iron rod. She slowly stepped down and jabbed each zombie one by one. She then jabbed a bigger and slower zombie in the head but the zombie fell backwards before Anna could pull the rod out. Anna says "Crap.". The rod is now too far away for her to reach. Isabella says "Now what?" Anna asks Isabella "Come down here next to me." Isabella says in fear "But.. they're still there..." Anna tells her "Trust me.".

Isabella swallows hard and then slowly stepped down the short hill, but Isabella slipped and started sliding down fast. Anna grabs onto Isabella to stop her fall but she then slides down with her. Fortunately the fence broke their fall but they were far too close to the zombies. The zombie tried to lean over and grab onto Anna but Anna kicked the zombie away. Anna tells Isabella to slip through the gap where zombies aren't occupying but Isabella hesitated. Anna went through without her, barely missing the zombie that tried to grab her. She quickly runs over to the zombie that has the rod and she pulled it out, taking down any zombies that were remaining.

Anna then tells Isabella "You're safe to go through now." Isabella carefully steps over the fence, avoiding any zombie corpses. Isabella walks up to Anna, Anna says to her "The sky is getting brighter, so daylight is approaching." Isabella says "Yeah but it's still dark." Anna says "And the others still aren't here." Isabella says to her "I know. I'm getting worried..." Anna says "Don't worry though. Those guys are fighters, just like we are!" Isabella says "Yeah..." she then quietly whispers to herself "You're the only true fighter here though, not me.." Anna says "Did you say something?" Isabella shakes her head saying "No, I didn't.". Anna stares at the dark morning sky and says "Hmm." Isabella asks "What is it?" Anna says "It IS still dark so it makes sense that the others are probably resting before they come and fetch us." Isabella says "Maybe." Anna then says "I have an idea!" Isabella asks "What?" Anna says "Since we'll probably be waiting a couple hours for them we should spend those couple of hours to scavenge. We could also search for your sister! We never had the chance to do much searching." Isabella agrees saying "Yeah. That would be great." Anna asks "So, is there any places your sis goes?" Isabella says "Actually yes, she sometimes goes to the arcade so we should look there!." Anna says "Okay." Anna and Isabella go to the arcade.

They travel through the empty quiet city until they reached the front of the arcade. The signboard of the arcade saying “Arcade Mania” is broken. Wires are sticking out and only a few words are highlighted with lights. Isabella says "This is it. But I doubt she will be in there." Anna says "Let's look anyway.". They entered the arcade and all the lights were off. Only the arcade machines were lighting up the room. Isabella says "I can barely see anything!" Anna says "Same." Isabella tries her best to see by using the arcade machine's screen, she walks off in another direction and looks around. Anna tells her "Be careful!" Isabella says "I will." Isabella checked her sister's favorite video game machines but finds nothing. She called out her sister’s name quietly but loud enough she could possibly hear, but there was no response. While Anna was walking down each row of arcade machines she heard a shriek, it was a zombie that looked to be a girl. Anna was about to hit it with her rod until she realized it could be Isabella's sister, Anna says to Isabella "Uh, Isabella.." Isabella replies "Yeah?" Anna replies "There is a girl here... a zombie girl." the zombie girl slowly walks up to Anna, Anna steps back slowly. Isabella walks by Anna’s side, she’s afraid that the zombie might be her. She got close to Anna and held her hand. Isabella couldn't see the girl yet because it was too dark. The girl kept getting closer, as she passed by the machine the light from the screen glowed onto her face.

It was not Isabella's sister. Isabella had a breath of relief, she told Anna "It's not her." she then lets go of Anna's hand. Anna stepped up to the zombie girl, jabbing her rod into her head, she went down and stopped moving. Isabella said to Anna "Let's go. I don't think she even came here." Anna says "Yeah I checked everywhere, there was nothing." both of them stepped outside. A ray of sunlight hit their faces as they stepped out of the arcade. Isabella said to her "It's funny... last time I got to see the sunlight it was when I woke up out of my soft comfy bed getting ready to go shopping with you." Anna replied saying "Same." she continues "Where to now?" Isabella says "Let's try the bakery." Anna says "Alright." they go to the bakery next.

Ally could hear her own name being called in her sleep. When she opened her eyes it was Angelina waking her up. Ally sits up and asks her "What time is it?" Angelina says "It's 6:17 AM." Ally says "Oh.". Bailey walks over to the two and asks "Shall we go look for the others now?" Angelina says "Yeah. After that we should prepare to travel to the military base." Richard steps in with a smile on his face, he says "I have a brilliant idea!" Jacob quickly says "No." Richard ignores him and continues "We should leave the country!" Jacob says "How the hell are we gonna do that?" Richard says "There are plenty of ways to get out of the country, dummy! We have planes, boats, trains, and even helicopters!" Jacob says “The airport is most likely infested with zombies by now, and I doubt anyone is there to operate all the transportation you’ve listed. It’s useless.” Richard replies “Nonsense, there is always someone there to operate any transport we need, we just need to find them!” Bailey asks "What about the military base idea?" Richard says "Forget that! The entire country is full of zombies. What makes you think the military are safe? We'll be better off just leaving the country!" Angelina tells him "Even if we did leave the country we don't have enough fuel to get us to an airport or whatever." Richard replies "Then we buy some, take some with us in containers, whatever! Heck, it's not like we have a short supply of gas. Everyone is dead now and there are gas stations everywhere!" Angelina has enough and decides to protest against Richard's idea, she says "No! We still have family and friends to look for, we can't just leave the country and live happily ever after like none of this shit happened." Bailey agrees with Angelina saying "Right! There is also no guarantee that any other country is safe either." Jacob says "As much as I want to reach safety it’s impossible to trust any ideas Richard has after that ‘Belwerth’ fiasco." Richard gets angry and says "I've made one,” he points his index finger up ”ONE mistake that's not even MY fault, and suddenly that deems all of my ideas "untrusted"? You can find your relatives AFTER we get to safety, not kill ourselves before we could even find them. I mean think rationally for a moment, what other choices do we have?" Bailey says "Military base." Richard laughs and says "Haha yeah, then when we get there we get killed by zombie soldiers. GREAT IDEA!!" Jacob says to Richard "You won't know if they are zombies until we get there.." Richard says "Yes! Then when we go there and see that I'M RIGHT we can all turn heads against Jacob's foolish idea and never let him make decisions again!" Richard claps. Jacob tells him "At least we aren't following some irrelevant poster about a shithole that doesn't exist." Richard slowly walks up to Jacob while giving him an intense stare, Jacob steps backwards slowly until he hits a wall, he suddenly regrets that he brought that up again.

Richard stands right in front of Jacob, looking down at him, right into his face. Jacob takes a big gulp and starts sweating. Richard stares at him for a good few seconds until he starts having a smirk on his face, Richard steps back, he starts laughing and says "HAHAHA, you children are so funny! Get a little freedom away from mommy and daddy and suddenly you know it all!" his tone changes to be more deeper and aggressive, he says "But the fact is that if you were alone you would be shitting yourself and praying mommy finds you. Be grateful I'm even lending my help!" Angelina steps in and says "You didn't do shit so I suggest you shut up and stop acting like you’re the only fucking adult here. I could've easily left your ass back there but I decided not to. And right now you're making me regret that decision." Richard says "Well well well, Miss Angelina, suddenly your true colors are showing! I wonder where you and your group would be if I wasn't here..." Ally gets up off the ground and stands up saying "Enough! I'm tired of this arguing. All we need is to agree with each other, NOT fight!" Carl quickly sides with Ally saying "Yeah! It should be us against the zombies, not us against each other!" Richard says "Ah, finally someone who is willing to come to an agreement! I'm guessing leaving the country would be your decision, Ally?" Ally says "Hmm." pausing while thinking what to say.

Bailey looks behind her, Valeria was sitting down in a corner and eating popcorn, Bailey says "What the hell. You were watching and eating popcorn the whole time?" Valeria says "Yeah! To be honest this is more interesting than the telenovelas I see on TV!" she grabs a hand full of popcorn and shoves it in her mouth. Richard dabs his glasses and says "Alright. It's time to come to a final agreement. Everyone! I am going to need you to raise your hand when I ask what we should do, alright?" everyone nods, wanting to come to a final agreement. Richard asks "Shall we leave the country?" all of Richard's students raise their hands, he currently has 7 students present, so that is a lot of hands to win against. Angelina asks "Ok, shall we continue to the military base?" Carl, Jacob, Bailey, Valeria, Angelina, and lastly Ally who is slowly raising her hand agrees with Angelina. Richard says "Well well well! 6 vs. 7. Looks like the odds are in my favor, isn't it? I mean... I could've raised my hand too and make it 8 but of course that isn't necessary." Richard smirks once again. Angelina says in her mind **Damn it, if only we had Anna and Isabella here..**

Richard claps his hands together and says "Right! Let's get going now! We have a whole day ahead of us." he happily walks out of the store with his students following behind him, they step on the bus with food and drinks while waiting for the others to come along. The others are very reluctant to step on the bus knowing that their final decision is leaving the country. Bailey says "Guys, let's not worry about this right now. For now we have to find Anna and Isabella. Maybe then we can talk some sense into Richard about leaving." Angelina says "Yes! Finding Anna and Isabella should be our main priority right now. Not that dumbass Richard." Ally says "I'm sure they would agree that leaving the country is a bad idea too.". Richard pops his head out of the bus and yells to them saying "Well? What are you all waiting for? Hurry up now!" Valeria quietly says "What an annoying ass." Bailey says "Ugh, let's go!" the group goes on the bus to join Richard and his students, their next stop is finding Anna and Isabella.

Anna and Isabella step into the bakery shop, the shop is surprisingly in one piece. Anna says "Huh? How comes this place remains... untouched?" Isabella says "I know right? Everywhere else is a mess, but here." they both take a look around the small bakery shop. Anna looked behind the counter, nothing was there. Isabella walks up to the storage door at the back, she calls Anna saying "Hey Anna.." Anna walks over and stands in front of the door with Isabella, Anna holds the door knob and opens the door. Right in front of them was a zombie wearing an apron and a chef hat. Isabella puts her hand on her mouth, saying "Oh no..." Anna says "Do you know them?" Isabella says "Yes.. he is a friend of the family. He always baked the finest things for our family. But now he's..." the zombie moved to Isabella's direction, Anna sweeps in and takes him down in one jab. Anna says to Isabella "I'm sorry." Isabella says "No, it had to be done. He isn't what he was before." Isabella tries to show Anna that she is tougher now, but she turns around and wipes the tears from her eyes without her noticing.

Anna looks inside the bakery oven, she sees a blueberry pie inside. Isabella asks "Do you think it's still edible? How long do you think the pie has been in there?" Anna says "Maybe a little over 24 hours, it still smells and looks fresh." Anna takes the pie over to the counter and wraps it up to take with her. Isabella opens the fridge, she sees cupcakes of various flavors and toppings inside. She says "Look!" Anna says "Wow! We should bring all that with us so we can give it to the others." Isabella says "Agreed" she takes the cupcakes over to the counter and helps Anna wrap them up. After they were done they step out of the bakery shop with bags in their hands. Isabella says "still no signs of her..." Anna says "Don't give up hope! We can still find her." Anna looks around and says "Look on the bright side, we found some things we could scavenge." Isabella says "Yeah.".

In a distance a man wearing a black hoodie was watching Anna and Isabella behind a wall. Isabella sees something from the corner of her eye and looks in his direction, he quickly ducked away and ran. Anna asks Isabella "What is it?" Isabella says "It's nothing. I just thought I saw something." Anna says "Hmm?" Isabella says "Where to next?" Anna says "You tell me." Isabella says "Maybe we should... Nevermind!" Anna asks "Nooo, what is it? Tell me!" Isabella says "I was going to say the library but she doesn't even read books." Anna says "But she knows that you do. We should go there!" Isabella says "Alright." their next stop was the library.

The crew were silent on the bus, however, Richard's students were loud and gossiping as usual. Angelina went to the right and took an underpass that lead back to the city. Richard walked down to the driver’s seat asking Angelina "What are you doing? We were leaving the country, remember?" Angelina says to him "Have you forgotten we have Anna and Isabella to pick up?" Richard says "You mean those women who blindly ran through the tunnel and got blocked off? Don’t bother with those deadweights, you're wasting your time. They're most likely dead by now anyway..." Angelina gets furious with him and says "How could you say that? They did nothing but helped us, we should return the favor!" Richard laughs saying "Haha.. helped us? You mean they're a nuisance that ran away from us and almost got us killed!" Bailey says "You weren't there when they risked their lives helping us escape the school so shut up! If anyone is a nuisance it's you!" Richard says "Oh stop trying to defend your friends already! Just accept the fact that they probably never survived that hellish tunnel! If it took us over an hour in a dark tunnel with no lights and hoards of zombies.. then what makes you think they can survive that on foot?" after Richard said that, the group started to have doubts fill in their mind, they go silent for a moment.

Ally says "No." Richard says "What?" Ally says "You heard me. We are going to the tunnel and the mall to find them. I have a strong feeling that they're okay." Richard says "Are you sure those feelings aren't your false hopes? How many times do I have to tell you all? They wouldn't survive walking through a pitch black tunnel full of zombies in the middle of the night tired and exhausted! Period! You are only wasting our time and delaying our trip to leave the country." Bailey snaps and says "Oh fuck off Richard! You're only hoping that they're dead so they won't delay YOUR wish of leaving the country." Richard says "Watch your mouth, young lady! You forgot who is in charge here!" Bailey grits her teeth in anger. Richard tries to convince Angelina "Angelina, darling! You know I'm right about them not surviving the tunnel.. don't you remember how horrifying it was for you to drive through that? How do you think they would survive doing that but instead of feet?" he continues "If you make the wrong decision.. you could cause us a lot of casualties. What would losing 2 people do compared to 16?" Angelina quietly keeps driving, avoiding any response to Richard and ignoring him.

Everyone has started to reach their breaking point, they couldn't take Richard's scheming ways and manipulation any longer. Ally gets up and walks over to bailey, she takes a seat next to her, Bailey asks "What is it?" Ally quietly whispers "I have something to tell you, all of you actually." Bailey says "Huh?" Bailey tells Carl and Jacob behind them to lean over and listen. Ally says "While you were all asleep at the store I went outside to try and get a signal on my phone. I managed to get a hold of one of my friends and she told me she would contact me later. I'm not sure if I can rely on her much but she is our only hope in finding shelter and getting out of here." Jacob says "I'm willing to rely on your friend than to put my life in Richard's hands. That asshole is insane!" Carl says "Same. Whatever your friend can do for us we'll appreciate it." Bailey nods and says "I'm in with you, Ally." Ally says "Alright, but we must do this without Richard." Bailey says "Agreed, I want to get far away from him as possible." Ally tells Carl and Jacob "You guys tell Valeria about it too, I'll try to find my way near Angelina without drawing attention." Richard decides to speak to Angelina again, saying "Still going to ignore me?" Angelina doesn't respond. Richard says "So be it, any blood that gets spilled will be on your hands." Angelina starts to lose her composure, she tightly grips onto the wheel, she looks like she's about to snap at Richard.

Ally walks up to Richard saying "Richard, leave her alone." Richard says to Ally "Who do you think you're talking t-" Ally says "Richard... Don't push her." Richard pulls up his shirt collar and fixes his tie, he says "Fine." Richard walks to the back of the bus and takes a seat while pouting. Ally brought food and drinks to Angelina to not look suspicious. Ally says "Hey... you want a soda?" Angelina says "No." Ally says "How about a sandwich?" Angelina says "I don't want anything." Ally leans over and quietly says "Look, I'm trying to tell you something without looking suspicious to Richard." Ally looks at Richard, he's not noticing anything so far. Angelina says "Fine, give me the soda." Ally says "Alright." she leans over to give the soda, she says "We're all planning to leave Richard and his students behind by ditching the bus." Angelina says "Thank fucking goodness." Ally says "Shhh, keep it down!" Angelina asks "What's the plan?" Ally says "I got in contact with a friend of mine, she said she will contact me and help me out." Angelina said "Are you sure we can rely on her?" Ally says "Yes, I'm 70% positive." Angelina says "Sounds good enough to me, when do we ditch?" Ally says "Like... right now." Richard gets up and walks down to Angelina's seat, he asks "May I know what you two are talking about?" Angelina says "Yeah." she hits the breaks on the pedal hard and stops in the middle of the road, Richard's students screams in shock.

Richard stumbles and hit his head on the windshield, he says "What the hell are you doing?" Bailey, Jacob, Carl, Valeria, Ally, and Angelina all get up. Angelina says "We're leaving your ass!" Angelina opens the bus door. Richard gets enraged and says "What?!?! You can't leave me.. You all need me and you know it!" Angelina said "No, it was me you needed. Because you can't drive a bus for shit." Richard gasps and says "Y- You'll regret this decision! Without me you cannot survive!!!" Valeria says "We were fine without you dumbass, now eat dick!" the group walks out without turning back. Richard panics saying "WAIT! Angelina! You can't just turn your back on us.. what about the students? Will you leave us to suffer like this?" Bailey said "I thought you said we needed your help? Why don't YOU save them?" Richard says "Angelina! Please!" Angelina says to him "Go fuck yourself, Richard." the group continues to walk away, Jacob looks back and gives Richard his middle finger. Richard stares at them, shocked that they turned their backs on him. His ego was shattered.

Anna and Isabella reach the library, the library looks a mess from the outside. Anna pushes the broken door to the side and enters. Multiple bookshelves have collapsed on the floor and dead zombie bodies were scattered everywhere, you could tell that a fight has broken out. Anna says "Although this place is a mess it looks like it's safe for now. We should split up." Isabella says "Okay." and checks the left side of the library where she used to study. They look around and find nothing but scattered books and zombie corpses. Isabella checks each row of the library, in one of the rows she finds something. She walks up to it and picks it up, it was a bracelet. Isabella calls Anna saying "Hey Anna!" Anna runs down the library to Isabella, she asks "What is it?" Isabella tells her "Her bracelet! I found it here on the floor." she continues "This is the exact spot I study at too! She has definitely been here!" Anna says "That's a good sign! But the question is, where is she now?" Isabella says "I don't know." Anna asks "Is there a place nearby here that she would go to?" Isabella says "Maybe. I mean there's a movie theater nearby that she sometimes goes to with friends." Anna says "Let's check!" Isabella says "Shouldn't we be getting back though? What if the others have come looking for us already?" Anna says "Don't worry, I think finding your sis should be top priority." Isabella says "I do too but I have a feeling she isn't there..." Anna says "You'll never know until we check." Anna grabs Isabella's hand and pulls on her arm to leave the library.

Back to the original squad Angelina says "I'm so fucking glad we left Richard! I was about to crash the bus, literally!" Valeria says "Yeah, that asshole wanted us to ditch Anna and Isabella, like hell no." Bailey says "Glad that's over with. But Ally, didn't you say your friend would contact you?" Ally says "Umm yes." she pulls out her phone and sees that her phone is on 2% battery. Ally says "Oh no." Bailey says "What?" Ally says "My phone is dying..." Jacob says "Great! How is she gonna contact you now?" Angelina says "We could just fix that problem by finding a phone shop." Valeria says "Oooh! I know one! My mom took me to a phone shop to buy a phone on my birthday. I can take you there." Bailey says "Great, let's go!" Carl says "Shouldn't we find another vehicle first?" Bailey says "What, already too tired to walk, Fatty?" Carl says "No... I'm just not used to walking after sitting on a bus for hours." Bailey tells him "Move it, Chubby!" Bailey kicks Carl in the butt, Carl suddenly found his legs to walk while he says "Oww!" Bailey smirks.

The crew follow Valeria to the phone shop. After walking for a while they finally get to one. Valeria says "Here! Damn the place looks like shit now." Angelina says "Looks like people broke in and stole some phones." Ally says "Good thing I only need a compatible charger." they walked through the shattered glass door and found empty boxes of phones all over the floor. Valeria walks over and picks up a phone, it was the latest O-phone from Pear with a shattered screen, Valeria says "Aww, who the hell breaks the latest Pear phone? Such careless bastards!" Ally searches through each box to find a compatible phone charger. The rest do the same, searching everywhere to find the right one. Bailey pulls out a charger that looks compatible, Bailey says "Hey I got something!" she walks over to Ally and gives it to her. Ally plugs in the charger, it fits. Ally asks "Does this shop have running electricity?" Angelina says "Yeah. There is a plug right here." Ally walks over and plugs in her phone, the screen lights up with a charging sign. Valeria says "Turn on your phone. She might be trying to call!" Ally switches on her phone, there was no notifications or messages. Jacob says "Well what now?" Ally tells him "We wait." Jacob says "I hope your friend is serious about helping us." suddenly Ally receives a phone call, it is from her friend. Valeria jumps and gets excited saying "Quick! Answer it!" Ally answers the phone.

Ally's friend says "Well look at that! You didn't die after all." Ally says "I don't die that easily." she says "Heh, I can see that. Anyway where are you at right now?" Ally says "I'm at Newfort, it's the city near Middlefort Bridge." her friend says "Hmm, you aren't too far away from my hideout in Carsona. Hey, if you got a pen and paper I'll give you the directions to write down." Ally says "Okay." then she moves the phone away from her ear, she asks "Hey, do you guys have a pen and paper?" Valeria pulls a piece of paper out of her backpack, at the bottom corner of the paper there is boobs drawn on the paper, she rips it out of the paper and says "Ignore that." She then gives Ally the paper. No one has pens or pencils. Angelina says "Well we are in a phone shop, there's gotta be a pen at the counter." She goes and checks. Angelina grabs a pen from the counter and gives it to Ally.

Ally says to her friend "Alright, give me the directions." her friend says "Alright, listen carefully." her friend gives her directions in deep detail, Ally writes down every details she says. Her friend says "After that you should see a classy mini villa across the street. The password on the door lock is 243495." Ally writes the rest down and says "Done! Thanks, Ashley!" Ashley says "No problem. You can use anything you want in there, I won't be needing that stuff anymore." Ally says "Alright. Also we're thinking of going to the nearest military base for rescue, do you think you could help us out with that one?" Ashley tells her "Hmph. Don't even bother. They got wiped out from the zombies too." Ally says "No way! All of them?" Ashley says "Not all of them but all of the ones near your area." Ally says "Damn." Ashley says "I'm sorry, Ally. I would go there and pick you up myself but my duties are getting in the way and I'm in no position to do much." Ally says "No I understand. I wasn't expecting anything from you anyway." Ashley says "I'm glad you understand my position in this. Sigh. You won't be able to stay at the villa forever either..." she continues "Tell you what, I'll contact you again as soon as I am able to. I have to get back on duty." Ally says "Okay." Ashley says "By the way I got a sweet surprise hiding in my storage. Don't afraid to use em' when you have to. Anyway, I gotta go! Stay safe Ally!" Ashley drops the call.

After the phone call ended with Ally's mysterious friend Bailey asks "Well? What is she gonna do for us?" Ally says "She gave me the address to her hideout. She said it's well secure and there is enough food in there to last us about a week." Carl says "That won't last forever though. We should still seek help from the military." Ally says "She told me not to bother... the bases got wiped out." Angelina says "What? How does she know?" Ally says "She works at the military." Carl says "That's cool!!" while Angelina says "What the fuck, how did you get a friend that works at the military? And how old is she?" Ally says "Long story. Basically I got in trouble, she saved my ass, and we became best buddies. She's 24 by the way." Angelina says "Interesting. I still wanna know more about her though." Ally says "I'll tell you more later. For now we should go and look for Anna and Isabella." Bailey says "Right. Let's look for them at the tunnel first?" Angelina says "Yeah." Valeria snatches a couple of phones from the store and puts it in her backpack. Their destination now is to go to the bridge to find Anna and Isabella.

Anna says "Here we are... at the last stop." they both walk into the movie theater, popcorn and popcorn buckets were scattered everywhere on the floor, the popcorn machines were broken too. Isabella says "So they got in here too." Anna says "Yup. Nowhere is safe anymore." Anna steps into the movie theater, a horror movie was playing. Isabella says "Look! there is a zombie!" the zombie is on the floor crawling, its feet look crippled. Anna walks over and says "I'll deal with it." she pokes its head in with the iron rod. Isabella says "It doesn't look like there's anything here." Anna says "Yeah. Should we return back?" Isabella says "Yeah." they both leave the theater and step outside, Isabella looks down at the ground. Anna says to her "Cheer up! You found her bracelet, so that's a good sign!" Isabella says "Yeah, but, I didn't find her..." Anna says "It's better than finding her corpse. She could be in safety." Isabella says "I hope so." she sighs. Anna says "Let's go back." Isabella says "Okay. Do we go to the tunnel or the mall?" Anna says "Let's try the tunnel first." Isabella stares at the bracelet, she then tucks the bracelet in her pouch before going.

The crew got to the tunnel, they couldn't see Anna or Isabella in sight. Carl kneels to the ground trying to catch his breath. Bailey says "They aren't here..." Valeria says "Could they be at the mall..?" Bailey says "Maybe." Angelina notices something, there were rotten zombie corpses by the fence near the short hill, she says "Hey look over there!" the crew came over to take a look. Angelina says "Puncture wounds in their head. They must've been here!" Jacob says "But they aren't here right now, where could they have went to?" Valeria says "I’ve already said it must be the mall." Angelina says to everyone "Then we go to the mall." Ally says "Wait! What if they come back? We should wait a bit." Carl says "Yeah, you'll never know if they'll show up!" Bailey says to Carl "You're only agreeing with her so you can get rest, fatso!" Carl tries to catch his breath and says "Look, it's not easy for me to take long distance walks, okay!" Bailey says "Whatever, Chubby." the crew waits awhile, it is now 1:48 PM with no signs of them. Angelina says "We should just go check at the mall like they told us to." Bailey says "Agreed, they were probably even waiting for us there." Carl says "No wait! Look!"

In the distance you can see Anna and Isabella walking with bags in their hands, Anna waves at the crew. Valeria jumps up in excitement and says "You're Aliiiiiive!" she rushes over to take one of Anna's bags. Both Anna, Isabella and the crew finally meet up after a long scary night of being separated, they are finally together as one again. Isabella asks "Umm, what happened to the bus? And where is Richard?" Angelina says "We ditched the asshole along with the bus." Bailey says "Yeah! He tried to convince us to leave you two just to achieve his wish of leaving the country." Ally says "He also refused our plans." Isabella says "Wow really? I thought he wanted us to all get to safety." Bailey says "Hah, that bastard will leave you hanging if his life was on the line." Anna says "I'm so thankful that you left him and came back for us." Jacob says "Pffft, anyone would leave him for someone else, no big deal." Angelina says "You're welcome, Anna! You did help us back at the school so the least we could do was repay you..." Angelina continues “AAAH, I’M SO HAPPY YOU GUYS ARE ALIVE!” despite being covered in blood, sweat, and zombie guts Angelina bounces over to Anna and smacks herself onto her, giving her a big hug. She got it all over Anna. Anna says “Ugh, Angie please! Let go of me you’re smothering me in zombie blood...” Isabella avoids Angelina by standing behind the others.

Angelina says to Anna “Oh, sorry.” she laughs “I was so excited and happy to see you guys made it.” Anna felt disgusting enough as it is not being able to shower for a couple days, now she has to deal with being covered in zombie guts. Anna says “Sigh, we should probably get going now, it’s getting later into the day and we should really find shelter and cleanup...” Isabella says "Yeah. So what now?" Ally says "Oh I have something to tell you guys! So I got in contact with my friend and she told me we can seek shelter in her mini villa." Anna says "That's great! Where is her villa though?" Ally says "It's in Carsona." Anna says "Oh wow, that's quite the distance. Shouldn't we find a vehicle?" Angelina says "Sure, but a vehicle to carry 8 of us." Anna says "Okay, let's go look around." the crew splits up to look for any vehicles nearby. Valeria finds a minivan, she calls out saying "Hey, I found one!" Anna walks over to the van, the door was locked. She picks up a rock off of the ground and smashes the window open, she puts her arm through the broken window and unlocks the door. Anna gently picks the pieces of glass off of the seat and sits inside the car.

Angelina comes over and says "I thought you didn't know how to drive?" Anna says "I don't to be honest. I only practiced twice in driving school. I'm only looking for car keys." Angelina says "There's none. Just let me hotwire it." Anna gets out of the van and Angelina jumps in and sits down, she pulls the wires out and hotwires the van. Anna says "Wow, you did it in one try." Angelina says "Yeah, it's easier than that rusty bus." everybody jumps in the van and buckles up. Angelina says "The gas tank isn't full but it should last till we get there." Ally leans forward from the back seat and gives Angelina the paper she written the address on. Angelina says "Alright, let's do this." she puts her foot on accelerate and drives through the chaotic city to get to Carsona.


	6. Drunken feelings

The crew left the burning destroyed city of Newfort to seek shelter in a mini villa in Carsona residence. Carsona was quite a few miles away from the city and so it took nearly an hour to get there. It was 5:19 PM and the crew finally was in Carsona. Carsona is a small town mostly known for its expensive and beautiful residential houses. Angelina gets worried that night may fall before they could find the villa, she asks Ally "How far are we to her place? It's getting dark and zombies are vicious at night." Ally replies "I don't know. I've never been to this place before." Anna says "She said it's in the residence, right?" Angelina says "From what is written on paper, yes. We're already in the residence too.".

The crew enters the residence, the majority of the houses were surprisingly intact but you could still tell violence broke out in the neighborhood. The fuel gauge started flashing red, this was when Angelina knew the fuel was running out. Angelina says "Shit, not now!" Bailey asks "Are we out of gas?" Angelina replies "Yeah.." Bailey suggests "Then we should find the house on foot before night falls, it's almost 6..." Angelina says "Right." they all got out of the van, leaving the van in the middle of the street.

They took all their belongings before making it on foot. The crew walked down the street in the residence, Ally says "It can't be far.. we must be close!" after walking a few minutes more Jacob points at a place, it appears to be a mini villa with an outside stairs and a heavily secured door. Ally says "This must be it!" the crew rushes through the fence gate and locks it, they make their way up the stairs and meet a heavily secured front door that requires a passcode to get in. Ally types in the passcode Ashley gave to her, she put "243495" into the security lock, a prompt came up saying "access granted" Isabella sighs in relief saying "Oh my god." Jacob says "I can't believe we finally found shelter." Angelina had a surprised look on her face after going through a couple days and 1 night of hell. The crew got to safety before night fell, avoiding another night of zombie hell.

The group opened the door and entered the villa. They walked into the villa and closed the door behind them, making sure the door was well secured. It was dark inside and they couldn't see anything, Bailey says "Uh, could someone look for the light switch? I can't see a damn thing." Carl stroked his hand on the wall until he could feel a switch, he says "I got it!" and switches on the light. Everyone wowed in surprise, the villa was beautifully designed, but most importantly it was cozy and well protected. Angelina says to Ally "I can't believe your friend gave us such an expensive, cozy, and well secured house just to seek shelter in. If it were mine I wouldn't give it to anyone." Isabella asks "So you would leave us to die?" Angelina says "Well if I didn't know you personally then maybe... BUT I know you guys so I'd let you stay." she smiles.

Carl decides to walk into the kitchen to check it out. It was fully furnished and filled with necessary resources. He goes over to the fridge and opens it, he says "WOAHHH!!!" Bailey stomps her way into the kitchen and says "What is it, fatty?" she notices Carl is drooling over the fridge filled with food of all kinds. Bailey walks up to Carl and pushes him away from the fridge, she shuts the fridge door and says "Listen Chubby, that stuff will only last a WEEK so you better not start filling your fatass with food." Carl says "I wasn't gonna eat it! I was just... cherishing it." Bailey says "Mhm. Sure." she grabs and pulls Carl's collar and drags him back into the living room. Anna walks past them and enter into the kitchen to pack the pies and cakes she got from the bakery into the fridge.

Everybody splits up around the house to check out the rooms they haven’t seen. Anna and Isabella decided to go upstairs and explore the bedrooms, Valeria and Bailey went to check out the backyard, and Jacob went upstairs to check the other rooms. While walking down the hallway he notices a door at the end of the hall. Jacob walks up to the door and opens it, it was too dark inside to see. Jacob slides his hands against the wall until he could feel a switch. He turns on the light, as he turned it on he notices dirt marks on the wall, it looks like he accidentally dirtied the wall with his hand.

Carl goes into the room Jacob is in, he asks him “Hey, Jacob. Did you find anyth-“ Carl paused as he notices what’s inside what looked to be a storage room. There were weapons, firearms to be more specific. Carl says “Woahhhh.” he walks in and picks up a rifle, he says “This is so cool! I’ve never held a gun before.” Jacob says “Hey, dude. Be careful with that!” Jacob walks over and takes the gun away from Carl. He tells him “Don’t go around touching weapons you don’t know how to handle. We should tell the others about this stuff first.” Carl says “I’m fine handling guns thank you very much. I’ve played enough Fortnite and PUBG to know how guns work.” Jacob says “Don’t be stupid Carl. You damn well know guns in video games are nothing like they are in real life. Now let’s go downstairs and let the others know.” Jacob stares at Carl, expecting him to leave the storage room first. Carl sighs and walks out the room, Jacob follows behind him.

Angelina goes to the kitchen but it was not to check out the villa. Angelina was looking for something to drink, something to ease the stress and tension from the past couple of days roaming in the apocalypse. She opens up the kitchen cabinets until she was able to find some alcohol. She picks out a bottle and takes a sip, her face crumples up after tasting it. She says to herself “What is this? Toilet water? This shit is so weak.” she closes up the bottle and tosses it in the trashcan. Apparently a bottle of champagne was too weak for Angelina’s taste. She picks out a bottle and reads it this time instead of blindly tasting it.

The bottle says “Rum” Angelina says to herself “Oh yes. This is perfect.” she opens it and takes a sip, then she closes up the bottle and takes it with her. As she was about to close the cabinet she also notices a bottle of whiskey. She says to herself “Damn it, two of my favorite drinks. Now how will I choose?” she picks up the bottle of whiskey and stares at it. She says “Hell, I might as well bring both with me.” she shuts the cabinet and drinks a little more, she then tells herself "Ugh, I should really save this till after I bath... though drinking a lil more won't hurt" she shrugs and drinks more.

As she was about to sneak her alcohol bottles into the bathroom Angelina and Bailey bump into each other, it looked like Bailey was about to take a bath too, Bailey says "Hey I didn't know you wanted to bath first.” she notices Angelina is trying to hide something and says ”Hey, what are you hiding?" Angelina says “Nothing.” Bailey notices Angelina is trying to hide bottles of alcohol, Bailey says "You're trying to sneak alcohol into the bathroom???" Angelina says "It’s none of your business." Bailey smells the alcohol on Angelina's breath, she says "You've already started drinking it too? Hmph, couldn't even wait till after." Angelina says "Are you going first or not?" Bailey says "You might as well go before you get drunk..." Angelina says "Whatever." then she enters the bathroom. Angelina says "Oooh, I didn't expect this." Bailey says "What?" and comes in to look.

There was a large Jacuzzi bathtub inside the bathroom, Bailey says “Wow.” as she walked in. It was a pretty large luxury bathroom. Not only it had a large Jacuzzi bathtub, there was also a shower inside the bathroom. The shower appeared to have multiple shower heads and taps. Angelina had an idea inside her head, she smiles. Bailey asks “What is it?” Angelina replies “I have an idea.” Bailey asks “Which is?” she replies "Let’s have a groupie bath!" she smiles and winks. Bailey blushes and says "W...What?" she gets embarrassed. Angelina rolls her eyes and replies “I said, let’s bath together!” Bailey says “No way!” Angelina says "What? Haven't been naked in front of classmates before in school bathrooms?" Bailey says "Well I have but- Ugh, Just... I’m not bathing with you! I’m a private person thank you very much.” Angelina says to her “More like a chicken.” she folds her arms inside and starts strutting around like a chicken while saying “bok! bok! bok!” Bailey says in an annoyed tone "HUH? I’m NOT a chicken! Fine! You get your group bath! But... BUT with the other girls too!!!" Angelina says "Yaaasss...hic!" Bailey noticed Angelina hiccupped, she says “Yeah... I think the alcohol kicked in already.” Angelina says “Pffft, anyway, I’mma go downstairs and tell the rest about the bathroom!” Angelina tucks away her alcohol behind the tub then bounces off downstairs. Bailey shakes her head.

Everyone returns downstairs to the living room after exploring the villa. They all tried speaking to each other at once, accidently cutting each other off. Bailey says “Oh, you guys might as well go first.” Anna says “It’s alright, what I was going to say can wait.” Jacob says “I’ll go first, I have something important to tell you guys!” Bailey asks “What is it?” Jacob says “There is a storage upstairs with firearms inside!” Angelina says “Really? Damn.” Ally says "So this was what she meant by ‘Don't be afraid to use it!’ huh.." Carl says “I totally wanna try target practice with them, it would be so cool!” Anna says "We probably shouldn't be tampering with those right now." Carl says "Aww, can't I take a couple with me to study them?" Anna says "As long as they aren't loaded then its fine. But most of you guys are still kids and I don't want you playing with them like toys." Carl says "Alright! I get it!" then he quietly mumbles "Gee, mom!" Anna heard Carl and slaps him at the back of his head, he says "Oww!" Anna says "I heard that!" Bailey and Valeria laughs at Carl.

Bailey says “Okay, you guys go next!” Anna says “Okay, well me and Isabella checked the bedrooms upstairs, one of them is a master bedroom and-“ Carl barges in and says "OH! CAN I HAVE THE BIG BEDROOM? I always wanted to have a big bedroom of my own but my mom made me stay in the same small room I had since I was 6..." Anna says "You can't have a room for yourself! There are only 2 rooms." Bailey butts in saying "And we girls will take the bigger room!" Jacob says "Hey! Why is that?" Bailey says "Because there are more girls than boys." Jacob stares at Carl for a moment and says "Oh hell no. I'd rather sleep on the couch than share a room with Carl!" Carl says "What? whyyy?" Jacob says "Because last sleepover you talked in your sleep, you snored like a pig, and let's not forget we happened to be sharing beds when you pissed yourself!" Valeria laughs out loud saying "HAHAHA YOU SHARED BEDS??? AND HE PISSED IN THE SAME BED? LMAO!!" Jacob scratches the back of his head and says "I shouldn't have mentioned that..." he continues "Anyway... I'll sleep on the couch, thanks." Bailey says "Why not make the Chubby sleep on the floor?" she smirks, Carl says "No! Bailey! why?" Jacob says "No really, I'm fine with the couch..." Carl says "Phew..." Bailey says "Suit yourself."

She continues “Anyway, about the bathroom upsta-“ Angelina cuts her off and yells “WE HAVE A LARGE JACUZZI BATHTUB!” Valeria says “Oh, really? That’s coo-“ Angelina cuts off Valeria and says "LET’S HAVE A GROUPIE BATH!" Valeria says "Huh?" Bailey says "Uh... apparently we have a large bathtub that can fit multiple people... and Angelina wants a girl’s group bath..." Isabella says "What?" Angelina says "Ya'll heard! GROUPIE BATH!!!" Ally says "Uhh..." Angelina shakes her head and says "Wow, you guys are too chicken to show boobs?" Bailey says "I'm not!" Valeria says "Umm." Ally says “Pffft I don’t know...” Anna says "Well I usually do that alone so...” Angelina says "Then, LET'S DO IT!" Isabella says to Anna "I'm not so comfortable doing this..." Anna says "It's just between us girls." Isabella says "I know but... just do it without me, I can wait." Angelina says "No, if Anna is coming with us then you are too!" Isabella says "But-" Angelina says "No buts! GROUPIE BATH!" Jacob coughs. Angelina says "We're having a groupie bath! Groupie bath! Groupie hic...!" Bailey says "Will you quit saying that please?" Bailey turns to Jacob and says "You two better not peep like perverts or else I'll kill you both!" Jacob steps back a little and says "Woah, Okay then..." Ally says "If you look I'll throw you out to the zombies." Valeria says "Yeah! You better not or I'll break your ass bone!" Jacob says towards Valeria "I don't think I'd want to see you naked anyway..." Angelina says "Let's go ya'll!" Angelina grabs a hold of shy Isabella on her arm and drags her with her, Isabella says "Uh... Anna! Help...!!”

The girls enter the bathroom and lock the door. Angelina walks over to the tub and turns on the tap to fill it up, she walks over back to the girls and says "Alright, who's having a shower first?" Isabella says "Shower?" Angelina says "Well we can't just dive in the tub and share blood and sweat with each other, gotta rinse down first." everyone pauses because they don't want to step forward first. Angelina says “You guys can stand here covered in blood and sweaty dirt as long as you want! I’m going in.” Angelina rips off her shirt then pulls down her pants. Bailey says "I-" Valeria says "Goddamn Angelina!" Angelina says "I ain't even fully naked yet and you're already freaking out, pffft." Angelina takes off her underwear and jumps into the shower. The girls blush in embarrassment, not being sure what they should do next. Angelina says to them “Come on, there is another shower head here, we don’t have to take turns rinsing!” Isabella hides behind Anna.

Carl and Jacob brought a few firearms to the living room. Carl starts ranting about how cool the guns are and how “skilled” he is with them on video games. Jacob looks at him and shakes his head. Carl says to him “Hey, do you see this part here? You get a gun magazine and just slap that inside and then your gun will be loaded! And if you have individual bullet cartridges you just pop open this bullet chamber right here and put them in until it’s full.” Jacob says to him “Carl, I already know these things from movies n shit.” Carl replies “Oh, I see. So you want to criticize me for learning about guns through video games but its okay if you learn how to reload a gun from a movie?” Jacob says “Unlike you I don’t compare real life to fiction every opportunity I get, that’s the difference.” Carl says “But you don’t need me to teach you how to reload a real life gun because a movie already taught you... ok.” Jacob says “Oh shut up, Carl. You learned about guns from shooting games, you aren’t an expert.” Carl says “you didn’t have to hit me so hard with the ‘expert’ comment...” Jacob says “Well that’s too bad bro.” Carl pouts.

Anna and Isabella join Angelina and Valeria who are already in the bathtub. Isabella sits shyly in the bath tub with her arms folded in front of her chest. Angelina slides over to her and whispers “Aww you’re so shy! Don’t worry, there is enough bubbles in the tub to keep you covered if it helps.” she winks. Isabella looks at Angelina and gives a little nod, her face is red. Bailey and Ally rinse themselves in the shower together, Bailey says “This sucks.” Ally asks “What’s wrong?” Bailey says “Our situation is what’s wrong. It’s hard not to think about it but we’re the only ones stuck out here in the apocalypse and we can’t contact anyone. What will we do once we run out of supplies?” Ally says “I wouldn’t think too hard about it if I were you, you’ll just give yourself a headache.” Bailey says “Well look at you little miss carefree. Unfortunately for me I can’t just ignore it like you do.” Ally replies “Oh believe me I do worry, I may even worry more than the rest of you, but I’ve learned to be grateful for what I already have and try to let things pan out.” Bailey asks “So are you saying I’m being ungrateful?” Ally replies “I’m saying you should loosen up a little and see how things go first.” Bailey says “But we can’t just sit here and do nothi-” Ally grabs the shower head and sprays cold water down Bailey’s back to snap her out of it, Bailey screeches to the top of her lungs.

Ally giggles at her reaction to the cold water. Bailey yells “WHY THE HELL DID YOU DO THAT FOR??” Ally replies “To snap you out of your freak out.” she smirks a little. Angelina says to them “Hey bring your asses to th- ..hic tub and stop playing amongst yourselves!” Anna looks at Angelina and asks “Are you drunk?” Angelina says “Oh ya... you just reminded me, I just brought a little something... hehehe.” Angelina leans over to the back of the tub and pulls out her bottles, Anna says “I figured you were.” Bailey and Ally join the others in the tub, Bailey says “Hey, give me some of that.” she grabs the rum from Angelina and takes a big gulp. Anna says “Hey, you aren’t old enough to drink yet!” Bailey says “I’m like one and a half months away from being 18 its fine.” she takes another gulp. Angelina grabs the bottle back while saying “Hey, that’s mine! Get your own!” Bailey fights back for the bottle while saying “Look, I need something to fight off this stress I’m feeling!” Angelina says “So do I!” Angelina continues and says “Fine, you can take my whiskey but NOT my rum!” she gives Bailey the whiskey bottle. Anna slides over to Isabella who is sitting there quietly in the corner, she asks “Hey, are you alright?” Isabella says “Yeah I’m okay, I’m just not feeling very social right now.” Anna says “Well... you never do.” Isabella replies “That’s true.” Angelina slides over to Isabella and says “Come on girl, loosen up!” she offers Isabella her rum and says “Here take a sip.” Isabella refuses and says “Umm... I don’t really drink.” Angelina tells her “Aaaa come on! Just a little bit!” Isabella gives in and takes a sip, she feels a burning sensation going down her throat. Angelina points the bottle towards Anna, Anna says “No, you’re not getting me drunk!” Angelina says “Come on don’t be a chicken! Take a little bit!” Anna refuses again. Angelina decides to give her bottle to Valeria instead, Anna says “But she’s underage!” Angelina says “Pffft... hic it’s fine she only took a little. Stop acting like a mom!” Anna replies “I’m not trying to act like a mom I’m just concerned-” Angelina pushes her bottle to Anna’s face “Come on Anna, you know you want to.” she winks at her. Anna grabs the bottle off of her and drinks the rum, she squints as it goes down. Anna says to her “Happy now?” Angelina says “Yasss! Take some more!” Bailey says “Hey why do you let her take more but I’m only allowed to take a little?” Angelina says “Shhhh!”.

Anna didn’t see the harm in drinking a little more and so she did. However, a little more became more, and then more became a lot. After a while everyone in the tub became drunk, everyone except for Ally that is. Ally is the only sober one while everyone else is either drunk or tipsy. Angelina attacks Anna in the bathtub, Anna says “GET OFFFFFFFFF OF MEEEE!” Angelina laughs like a maniac. Valeria was cracking up the whole time while Isabella was playing with the empty bottle of alcohol. She was filling it with bath water and then emptying it back in repeatedly. Bailey was drunk but lost in thought. Ally sat there pokerfaced, said "Okay, I’ve had enough." she tried to step out of the tub but drunk Valeria pulled her back in, Ally said "Let me go!" Valeria said "No! You’re staying with me forevaaaaaa!" Ally fights off Valeria to get out of the tub, Valeria falls back in and says “Noooo!”.

Carl asks Jacob "Hey, could you bring me that gun over there?" Jacob picks up the gun and gives it to Carl. Carl says "Woah, it's an M24 rifle! I've only played these in shoot em' up games but I’ve never seen one in real life." Jacob says "Yeah, same." Carl sneaks out a rifle magazine out of his pocket, Jacob says "Yo! Didn't Anna tell you not to play with loaded weapons?" Carl says "Yeah but I'm not gonna shoot it or anything! I just want to test loading it." Jacob says “Okay, whatever.”. Carl flips the rifle around, he then inserts the magazine into the rifle. Carl flips the rifle back over and fiddles with it a little bit. Jacob says "Hey!!! Watch where you point that thing!" Carl says "Relax! It's safe!" Jacob says "Dude you were pointing that straight at me!" Carl says to him "Look, I'm sure safety mode is on. It's completely saf-" Carl accidently pulls the trigger while the gun was vaguely aiming at Jacob, the bullet misses Jacob and goes into the wall. Carl says "Oops..." Jacob says "Oops?? OOPS???? YOU ALMOST SHOT ME!!!" Carl says "I KNOW!!! Look, I'm sorry!" Jacob grabs the gun from Carl while saying "Give me that!" he sits on the couch and puts the safety trigger on. Jacob gives the gun back and says "I think you should store them away." Carl says "Okay, but we really should practice how to shoot someday so we'll know how to defend ourselves." Jacob says "Agreed, hopefully tomorrow will be clear and we can do target practice." Carl “We’re going to need permission from Anna too.” Jacob says “I don’t think she will have a problem with practicing outside in the backyard.”. Carl hears the bathroom door opening, he hears loud giggling. Carl says to him “Hey I think the girls are finished.” Jacob says “Alright, let’s wrap this up and put the weapons away before the girls complain.”.

Jacob was about to go upstairs until he sees Angelina stumbling downstairs with only her towel wrapped around her. Carl freezes in place staring at her and his face starts to turn red. Jacob says “Woah. Uh.. Angelina, what are you... doing?” Angelina says “Oh... hey boys... hic! How are ya’ll?” Angelina takes the last step down but ends up slipping and falling down instead. Jacob says “I think you’re drunk... Let me just help you back upstairs.” Jacob turns around to look at Carl and says “I’ll see you later, you can take a shower first if you want.” Carl snaps out of it and says “Oh, Okay!”. Jacob goes over to pick up Angelina, tossing her arms around his shoulders, he then turns his back and tries his best to get her to climb on his back, after a struggle trying to get Angelina onto his back he lifts her up while accidently touching her butt. Angelina says "You dirty boy! You touched my butt!" she giggles. Jacob gets embarrassed, he ignores what Angelina said and carries her to the bedroom.

Jacob carries her up the stairs, halfway up the stairs he sees Bailey, she looks frustrated and angry at something and she was also drunk. Jacob says "I gotta put Angelina to sleep..." Bailey says "Go ahead then. Why are you staring at me????" she says in an angered tone. Jacob continues to walk the stairs. He finally reaches the girls bedroom, Ally was the only sober one there. Anna and Isabella have passed out on the bed, Valeria was nowhere to be seen. Ally says "Oh great! Let me guess, she came to you?" Jacob says "Yup." Ally says "Just put her on the bed, I'll deal with the rest." Jacob walks over to the bed and lets Angelina down, Angelina says "Noooo! I want another piggy back riiiiide!" Ally says "No! You get some sleep!" Jacob leaves the room, he scratches the back of his head while feeling awkward. As he left the room he sees Valeria crawling on the floor, it looks like she was already heading to the room anyway. Jacob left her because he doesn’t want to help her.

As Jacob was going back downstairs Bailey was halfway down the staircase hanging over the balcony and looking down at the ground. Bailey was wearing a pink tank top and pink underwear, she was revealing quite a lot. Her damp brunette hair was let loose to dry. Jacob says "It's a crazy night, huh?" Bailey says "When is it never a crazy night? It's been like this since this mess started." he asks "Are you okay?" She snaps back at him and says "NO! I'm NOT Okay!" Jacob can see that she's mad, but he wasn’t sure what about. He walks down the staircase, Bailey says "So you're just gonna walk away???" Jacob says "What else do you want to do? Talk?" she says "What I want is to snap out of this nightmare!" I've lost contact with my friends, my family.. and someone I loved..." he says "We've all lost contact with friends and family." She snaps at him again and says "YEAH BUT YOU’VE NEVER LOST SOMEONE YOU’VE LOVED AND HAD FEELINGS FOR!" He says "You're right, I haven't.” She says "Exactly! So don't act like you know shit! If Matthew was here right now he would be more understanding!"

He says "So you want to compare me to a dead person now?" She says "Dead or alive Matthew would always be the better person when it comes to conversations! He would never judge or tell you to "Suck it up!" or tries to act like he's been in my position, instead he tries to be understanding and gives me some sort of advice, even if his advice was useless!" He tells her "Matthew never had the balls to stand up to you and tell you the truth anyway." She says "Just like you never had the balls to tell him what happened to his pet goldfish, right?" He says to her "Why do you have a habit of bringing up petty shit in a conversation??" She says "So you're calling Matthew's goldfish ‘petty shit’? The goldfish YOU harmed? He was devastated and crying when he found it dead in his tank and all you did was tell him to get over it because it was ‘just an animal’ and telling him that made him feel worse!" He says "It was an accident that was out of my control!" She yells "Just like Matthew's death, Right? Are you gonna tell me to my face that preventing his death was also out of your control??" Jacob was about to say something but stops before he did, he feels that deep down he could've prevented Matthew's death.

Bailey's eyes starts to water, she says "Tch, so you could've done something after all?" Jacob pauses in silence. Bailey starts to breathe hard, she gets angry and yells “YOU PIECE OF SHIT!” she lunges at Jacob. Both of them fell downstairs, she falls on top of him at the half landing of the stairs. She sits up over him and starts throwing her hands at him. Instead of stopping her Jacob defended himself, using his arms as a guard. She gave up hitting him and started to break down into tears. Jacob leans forward and looks at her. She's crying with her face cupped into her hands. Jacob says "You had feelings for Matthew, didn't you?" Bailey lifts her head up from her cupped hands, showing her teary eyes, she says "Yes... Yes I did."

She continues "He would always come to me and ask for advice on how he should confess to Valeria. Like an idiot I would just try to encourage him." He says "Why didn't you just tell him?" She says "Because I'm an IDIOT! I was always afraid that he would reject me. Afraid that he would prefer a girl like Valeria because she's fun, tomboyish, likes games. While I'm just a mean bitch that scolds people, make fun of them and act like the smartass of the class. I was afraid he doesn't want a mean horrible boring girl like me." He says "You know Matthew never thought of you like that!" She says "Ugh, how would you know?" He tells her "Because he told me! What you described about yourself is what I usually think of you. But Matthew... he actually always used to say nice things about you!" He continued "He would say how you try you best to encourage him, let him know his weak points, and give good advice how to deal with his issues with Valeria. I mean he sometimes says you're harsh but he never means it in a bad way." She says "Really?" tears starts to pour down her face even more. Jacob says "Yeah. I'm being honest, that is how he really felt." Bailey says "Matthew..." Bailey leans forward grabbing Jacob and hugging him, she sobs into his shoulder releasing all of her stress and sadness.

Despite the position he is in he can't help but notice that Bailey is braless and is only in her underwear, he tries not to think about it. After a long cry Bailey pulls away a little bit staying quite close to Jacob's face. They stare into each other’s eyes, he uses his hand to wipe off her tears, then he gently caresses her face. She breathes heavily into Jacob's face but he doesn't seem to mind. He can't seem to take his eyes off of hers. She leans in a little closer then stops, they still stare deeply into each other’s eyes. Jacob wasn’t sure if he should make a move so he just stares back at her. Suddenly his mind starts spinning in circles and can't seem to hold his composure anymore. His hand grabs her breast and he leans in forward for the kiss. Bailey quickly pulls away before their lips touch and gets up off of Jacob. She brushes her hair back with her hand and wipes off the remaining tears on her face. She doesn't have the courage to look at Jacob, she says to him "This never happened." and walks off to the girl's bedroom without looking back. Jacob releases a sigh, he hits his head and whispers to himself "Stupid! Stupid! Stupid! UGH! Why did I grab her breast first?" Jacob gets up off the ground and finally takes a shower after a hectic night dealing with girls. Bailey had left Jacob that night with no explanation. What was it that put Bailey off? Was it Jacob’s sudden movements or something else?

Valeria crawls into the girl’s bedroom. Ally was struggling to tuck in Angelina to bed because she refused to sleep. Ally says to herself "Sigh, why do I have to be the one putting the adults to sleep?" Ally sees Valeria crawling on the floor, Ally says "Valeria! Get your ass up from the floor!" Ally walks over and shuts the bedroom door, she then tries to get Valeria to stand up, but Valeria falls back on her butt. Ally says "Ugh, I should just leave you on the floor!" Valeria was mumbling some words but it didn't seem like she was saying anything important. Ally drags Valeria to the mini couch. Valeria wastes no time and passes out. Ally says "Wow..." Angelina pulls the bed cover off of herself, exposing the one piece of cloth she had on herself which was a towel. Ally rushes over to her saying "No! Go back to bed! You don't even have your pajamas on..." Ally pulls the cover back over Angelina, Angelina gave up and falls asleep. Ally whispers "Finally!" she walks over to the couch and lays down, before she switches off the lamp light she overhears a yell from the hallway. She quietly opens the door and opens it enough to leave a little gap, she peeps through the gap. It was Bailey and Jacob having an argument, Ally heard everything that happened between them that night. After Bailey got up Ally shut the door and ran to the couch to lie down, she pulled the blanket over herself and turned off the lamp light. After a minute Bailey walked into the bedroom and closed the door behind her. Bailey came over to the large couch Ally was on and laid down. She pulls a blanket over herself and tries to sleep. Ally was pretending to sleep when she started hearing sobbing noises under her blanket, Bailey was crying next to her. She was tempted to comfort her and hug her but she wasn’t sure if she should. After a little while Bailey cried herself to sleep and shortly after Ally also falls asleep.

Jacob goes downstairs and he meets Carl along the way, Carl says to him "Hey, my bedroom has a shower if you wanted to take one." Jacob asks "Your room had a shower this whole time and we were waiting on the girls for nothing?" Carl scratches his head while saying "Yeah, I didn't bother to fully check the room..." Jacob sighs and goes back upstairs to Carl's room to take a shower. Jacob enters the shower, while taking a shower he couldn't help but think about what happened earlier. He felt guiltier than before. He thinks of what he could've done to save Matthew. He thinks to himself "What if Matthew climbed over first? What if I hurried back over the fence to help him? What if..." Jacob stops and says to himself "No... It's not my fault!" he continues "It's her fault... if she didn't jump off the fence thinking she was super girl he wouldn't have died!" Jacob clears his conscience by putting the blame on Valeria. He says to himself "And now Bailey blames me..." Jacob feels frustrated, he clenches his fist and punches the wall in the shower. He hurts his hand and lets out a shout saying "Aaagh shit!" he looks at his hand and sees his knuckles are bleeding. He lets the water run on his hand, washing away the blood. His hand hurts when he tries to move it, he might have fractured some bones in his hand.

Carl heard the shout and rushes to his room he asks Jacob "Hey man, are you okay in there?" Jacob replies "Yeah, I'm fine. I'll be out in a minute." Jacob steps out the shower and grabs a towel, he covers his lower half of his body with it. He looks for another towel to hide his hand injury. Jacob steps out the shower. Carl offers him a T-shirt and shorts, Carl says "Hey, I got this from the storage. I'm not sure if it belongs to Ally's friend though. It looks like boy clothes." Jacob takes it and says "Yeah, thanks." Jacob walks out of Carl's room and goes downstairs. Carl wonders what was wrong with Jacob. Jacob puts on his shirt and shorts, he jumps on the couch and releases a big sigh. He puts both of his arms at the back of his head and lies down, he stares at the ceiling. Jacob thinks about how he will approach Bailey tomorrow after that incident they had earlier, he shrugs and turns over to try and get some sleep. He eventually shuts his eyes and falls asleep.


	7. Unnecessary troubles

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is longer than usual. It's mostly filled with drama so enjoy!

Jacob wakes up on the couch. He sits up and starts stretching his arms while yawning. He can smell something coming from the kitchen, it smells like fried Bacon. Jacob gets up to go and check. He was hesitant because he wasn't sure if Bailey was in there or not. He pokes his head around the corner only to see Angelina cooking breakfast. She was wearing a gray tank top with an apron and some shorts. She turns around and notices Jacob is staring at the corner, Angelina says "Oh hey Jacob!" Angelina starts getting suspicious and wonders why Jacob is staring at her from around the corner like that, she asks "Why are you looking at me like that? Did I do anything crazy last night?" He asks "What?" She asks "I said did I do anything crazy last night? I was drunk so I don't remember..." Jacob remembers a few things but he lies to her and says "Nah, you didn't do anything." Angelina says "Okay, good!" He didn't want to come off suspicious asking about Bailey only so he says "Where are the others?" Angelina says "They're probably upstairs picking out clothes, Ally's friend has an interesting taste in clothing.".

Carl walks into the kitchen saying "That smells good! What are you making?" he sees Angelina is making breakfast and starts blushing and acting weird, he says "Oh, morning miss... misses.. uh.. Angelina!" he starts to sweat. Angelina looks at him and lifts an eyebrow, she asks "Carl, why are you acting weird? WHAT DID I DO LAST NIGHT?" Carl stutters saying "Uh... I- Nothing! You di... didn't do uh.. anything!" Angelina puts down the spatula and walks up to Carl, she grabs him by the collar. Carl panics while saying "You didn't do anything! I swear!" Angelina says "Stop lying! Your face says it all!" Carl looks at Jacob, Jacob turns away pretending to not pay attention. Angelina yells at him saying "CARL!" Carl nervously speaks fast saying "Okay! Okay! You left the bathroom half naked with a towel on!" Angelina says "Oh. My. God." Angelina tugs on Carl's collar asking "What else? DID I DO ANYTHING WEIRD OR FREAKY? TELL ME!" Carl replies "No... No!! Nothing else!!! You just.. You... You were revealing a lot and..." Carl looked like he was about to pee his pants, Angelina let go of him. Jacob warned Angelina saying "Your breakfast might burn!" Angelina says "Oh shit." and rushes to the Bacon, she saved it on time.

The girls were in the bedroom picking out clothes to wear around the house. Anna says to Ally "Your friend sure likes wearing revealing clothes doesn't she..." Valeria picks out a top and says "I can't wear this! My boobs would fall out!" Ally picks up a bra and says "I can't even wear her bras. It'll just keep falling off." Bailey sits on the couch silently staring into space. Anna says "Bailey, aren't you going to pick anything?" Bailey says "Oh, no I'm fine." Anna says "Alright. Well I'm going do our laundry while we temporarily wear Ashley's stuff." Anna walks out the room with a basket of dirty clothes, Isabella follows to go help her. Angelina yells from downstairs saying "Breakfast is ready ya'll!" Ally puts the clothes away and heads downstairs. Before going she asks Bailey "Aren't you going?" Bailey snaps out of her daydream and says "Oh? Yeah I am." Ally looks at her wondering if she's okay. Ally shrugs the thought off and goes downstairs. Bailey follows along shortly. The girls go downstairs and enter the kitchen for breakfast. Carl and Jacob were already sitting at the table and started eating. Bailey sees Jacob sitting at the table but she quickly looks away before he notices. Angelina comments on the girl's clothes saying "Wow, ya'll looking nice!". Anna was wearing a white blouse shirt with jean shorts. Valeria wore black track pants and a red hoodie jacket. Isabella wore a purple dress with a white waist belt. Ally wore a blue checkered off-shoulder dress. Bailey was still in the same stuff as last night.

Everyone but Bailey went to go sit at the dinner table, Bailey stood there watching. Angelina asked "Aren't you gonna eat breakfast with us?" Bailey says "Uhh.. yeah." she slowly approaches the table and pulls out a chair. She sits on the chair. Jacob stares at her but she didn't look back at him. Angelina serves breakfast. Anna has a bowl of cereal and milk instead. Everyone starts digging into their breakfast like they haven't eaten for days. Valeria says "Mmm, I never thought I would miss home cooked breakfast." Carl says "Same! Although I didn't mind when I used to eat chocolate bars for breakfast." usually Bailey mocks or teases Carl when it comes to food but instead she was playing with her food by stabbing it with a fork. Jacob stares at her.

Carl jumps in saying "So... I was thinking about practicing how to use the guns so we'll be prepared." Jacob says "Not without having someone watching over you." Carl says "Jacob!" Jacob says "No, I ain't covering your ass this time, Carl." Anna asks "What happened?" Carl tries to shush Jacob but Jacob says "He almost shot me last night when we were checking out a few guns." Bailey gets startled after hearing what Jacob said. Angelina says "Oh damn." Isabella gasps. Anna says "What? Did you put bullets in the gun when I told you NOT to?" Anna stares at Carl in an angry way. Carl says "Look, I can explain! I wanted to test it with bullets so we can be prepared for when the worst happens. I didn't mean to accidently pull the trigger! I mean, at least we know the guns work now, right? Eheheh..." Anna says "You almost shot him and you dare try to justify yourself?!?" Carl says "I-" Bailey says "Carl." Carl looks at Bailey, Bailey continues "You're not allowed to test out the guns, period." Carl says "But what about the zombies?" Bailey says "I'll handle the damn gun if needed but you're staying far away from them!" Carl says "But you don't have experience in handling guns tho-" Bailey replies "And you don't either! Just because you play shooting games doesn't mean you know shit. We're in the real world, not some fictional game where you can't die!" Carl notices Bailey seems more serious than her usual self. It really got to her when she heard that Jacob almost got hurt. Bailey gets up and leaves the table. Anna says "Aren't you finishing breakfast?" Bailey says "I'm not hungry." she leaves the kitchen. Angelina says "Bailey has been acting up since last night, does anyone know what happened to her?" everyone shrugs and shakes their heads saying they don't know. Jacob stays silent. Isabella says "Maybe someone should talk to her..." Ally says "I can!" Jacob finishes his food and says "No it's fine, I can do it." Jacob leaves the dinner table to go follow Bailey.

Bailey wonders off into the laundry room to cool off a bit. Jacob notices Bailey walking into the laundry room. He walks into the laundry room and shuts the door behind him. Jacob says to Bailey "Wait!" Bailey stops but she doesn't turn around. Jacob walks up to Bailey, Bailey turns around and slowly lifts her eyes to look at him. Jacob says "About last night..." Bailey walks away from him while saying "I don't want to talk about last night." she grabs the clothes Anna left in the laundry and puts them in the machine. Jacob says "I know! But I just want to say that I'm sorry for grabbing your tit like that." Bailey looks at him and says "That's all???" Jacob says "Well.. yes. I didn't mean to make you feel uncomfortable. I just... lost control of myself." Bailey says "Ugh, you're so typical." Jacob says "What? I said sorry! I really mean it!" Bailey yells "THAT-" she calms herself down and takes a deep breath, she says "That's not it, Dumbass!" Jacob says "Oh... so.. you liked it?" Bailey gets angry at him and says "NO! You fucking simpleton. The boob grab had little to do with it, it was the fact that you took advantage of me at such a critical moment." she continues "I was depressed, drunk, and upset and YOU took advantage of me. No one was supposed to know how I felt for Matthew, or that I was even jealous of Valeria. And to top it off you tried to do pervy things to me at my weakest moment! If I was deeply drunk you would've had your way with me." Jacob says "I'm sorry! It's just that the way you stared at me made me thought you wanted tha-" Bailey yells "I WAS DRUNK, DIPSHIT! Ugh, you make me sick." Bailey walks off to leave the laundry room. Jacob grabs her arm and says "Bailey, wait!" Bailey pulls his hand away and says "Get your dirty hands off of me!" Jacob says "Please! Listen!" he continues "I'm sorry about everything. I shouldn't have taken advantage of you like that! You really caught me off guard. I didn't know that was how you really felt, or that you even had that kind of side to you. I didn't know what to do and all I could do was feel sorry. But there is one thing that I must let you know that there was absolutely nothing I could've done to save Matthew. He was determined to save Valeria and that is what he did." Bailey started to tear up a little, she looks up at Jacob and looks into his eyes. Bailey asks "Was there really nothing... you could've done? At all?" Jacob wanted to say there was nothing he could've done but he started to freeze up inside again. He couldn't help but feel guilt while looking into her eyes, he thought that maybe he really could've done something. Bailey wipes her eyes and walks out of the laundry room. While walking out she bumps into Anna, Anna says "Oh, what were you doing here?" Bailey says "I was... just helping with the laundry." Bailey looks back at Jacob, she then walks away. Anna walks in the laundry and looks at Jacob. Jacob struggled to look back at Anna, he steps forward to walk out of the room. Anna asks him "Is something wrong?" Jacob barely looking back at Anna, he says "She didn't tell me anything." Jacob walks away. Although Jacob said she didn't say anything Anna could see it was obvious that something happened.

Bailey goes upstairs to change. When she entered the room she saw Valeria lying on the bed while playing with her phone. Bailey walked in and ignored Valeria. She picked out a few clothes and walked into the closet. Before she closes the closet door Bailey had something on her mind that she wanted to get off of her chest. She leaves the closet and walks up to Valeria. Valeria turns her head to Bailey and asks "What's up?" Bailey says "I got something to ask you." Valeria says "Hmm?" Bailey says "Could you tell me... how Matthew get bit?" Valeria pauses her game and stays silent for a moment, she puts her phone on the bed and says "I thought Jacob told you already." Bailey says "He has, but he hasn't told me the whole story. Valeria, I need to know! Please!" Valeria sits up and takes a deep breath. She tells her how they ran up the school's rooftop and struggled to get up the storage roof. She also explained how Matthew struggled climbing the fence and how she jumped down to defend him. Bailey stops Valeria, saying "Wait, Valeria I'm sorry for stopping you like this but where was Jacob when you were defending Matthew?" Valeria tells her "He was already over the fence." Bailey asks “Doing what exactly?” Valeria tells her “He was encouraging Matthew to get over.” Bailey stares down at the floor, her hair is covering the expression she has on her face. She says in a quiet tone "I see. Please continue." Valeria continues, saying "Basically he jumped down to save me from the zombies but.. in the end he got bitten, and it was too late." Bailey says "Thanks for telling me the whole thing. I know this wasn't easy for you." Valeria says "How comes you're asking me this now?" Bailey replied "Since we're at a settled environment now I just wanted to clear up some things." Bailey walks into the closet, she says "I'm gonna get dressed." Valeria says "Ok." Bailey closes the closet door.

Anna walks out the laundry room with Isabella. She and Isabella were carrying a clean basket of wet clothes. Anna says to everyone "I'm going out the back to hang out the clothes." Carl says "Is it safe out there though? We haven't been out there since yesterday." Anna says "Well we won’t know unless we check. I have to get these clothes dried." Carl says "What if-" Anna stops him right there and says "I know what you're gonna suggest, I'm not letting you play with guns." Carl says "But what if zombies attack you? What will you do?" Ally says "Don't worry about it, I'll grab a weapon and guard them." Anna says "Alright." Carl says "Hey! It's okay for her to have a gun but not me? She's younger than me!" Ally says "Who said I was using a gun?" she walks upstairs to grab a melee weapon from the storage. Ally enters the storage room and looks for a decent melee weapon. She picks up a stick with a barbed wire but then something else caught her attention. She saw something long sitting in the corner, it was covered in a bag. Curiosity struck Ally and she decided to take it and see what's inside. She unzipped the bag and put her hand inside. It was a shiny sharp katana. Ally says to herself "Hmm, I like this better." she takes it with her downstairs. Anna sees Ally coming downstairs and says "Did you find anyt-" she sees Ally carrying a katana. Carl says "Woah, cool!" Isabella says to Anna "Let's go?" Anna says "Yeah." the 3 of them took the kitchen back door.

They walk onto the green grass garden. Anna says "Looks like it’s clear." she puts down the basket and starts hanging out the clothes. Ally stares at the katana and touches it, she’s really amused by it. Ally looks up and noticed one stray zombie climbed over the fence and got into the backyard somehow. Anna and Isabella were too busy with clothes. Ally ran over and swung the katana, the katana ran clean through the zombie's head. The zombie’s head was sliced in half, the top half fell off the rest of its face. Isabella says "Oh my god." Anna says "Holy.." Ally says "Damn, this weapon is cooler than the kendo stick. I think I’mma keep it." Anna blinks at Ally wondering what happened, it happened so quick she didn't even get to see. Anna and Isabella were done with the clothes. They all walked back inside. Carl says "Woah, there is blood on your katana! How many did you kill?" Ally says "Just one. This katana is so sharp you don't even need to swing hard." Carl says "Cool! Can I see it?" Ally says "No. It's my weapon now." Carl says "What? When did you suddenly claim it?" Ally says "From the moment I found it." Carl looks at Anna, Anna says "Why are you looking at me? I'm not your mother." Bailey walks downstairs with her clothes changed. She was wearing jeans and a pink cropped shirt with the front tied like a ribbon. Bailey says "What's going on?" Anna says "Ally has a new weapon." Bailey says "Oh." she walks into the kitchen. Anna says "Bailey is still acting weird." Carl says "Probably a bad mood, she'll be over it." Anna sighs and goes to return the basket to the laundry.

After the morning passed by it was finally afternoon. Carl, Jacob, Valeria, and Ally were playing video games on Ashley's TX4 console. While playing games Jacob found it hard to concentrate, he couldn't think straight. He couldn't help but wonder where is Bailey, how is she, what was she doing. Jacob decided to leave the game and go look for her. Carl says "Dude, where're you going?" Jacob says "I just need a break." he walks off upstairs. Anna walks in and says "Oh, Jacob didn't want to play anymore?" Valeria says "Nah. Do you wanna join us?" Anna says "Sure!" she sits on the couch and grabs the controller.

Jacob goes upstairs and walks up to the girl's bedroom. He takes a peek through the slightly opened door. She was sitting on the bed while spaced out. Jacob lightly knocks the door and says "Bailey?" Bailey ignores him. Jacob says "Bailey, I know you're in there. I just want to talk." Bailey sighs really hard and then gets up off of the bed. She opens the door and asks "What?" Jacob says "Can we talk in a more private place?" Bailey says "It's not like anyone is here." Jacob says "I know but-" Bailey cuts him off and says "Just say what you want to say right here." Jacob says "Okay, fine. I just wanted to give you more of a sincere apology. I mistook you and I admit I did try to take advantage of you. But I'm not as bad as you think I am. I do care for you and I don't want things to stay rough between us. I kinda want things to go back to normal..." Bailey says "Is that all?" Jacob says "...Yes." She says "Okay." and continues to shuts the door on him. Jacob holds the door and yells "WAIT! Aren't you going to say anything?" Bailey says "What am I supposed to say? That I forgive you? Because I don't." Jacob says "I'm not asking you to forgive me or anything. I don't blame you if you don't trust me again, but could we please just go back to normal? Or at least half of what it used to be? Everyone is suspecting something is up and sooner or later they might know it's between us." Bailey says "Do you really expect things to go back to normal after everything that happened? Do you expect me to act like it never did??" Jacob says "No... Not exactly. I just want you to be yourself again." Bailey says "Did you really just say that...? Ugh, Jacob I'm really not in the mood for this. Just let go of the door." she tries to close the door but he holds it open. Bailey says "Jacob..." Jacob says "Could you please at least accept my apology if you can't forgive me? An acceptance from you would make me feel-" Bailey says "Less guilty, right? You deserve to feel guilty!" Angelina walks into the hallway and slightly overhears what Bailey said. Jacob and Bailey's eyes turn to Angelina's direction. Angelina says "Oh, sorry! I can come back later." Bailey says "No! We were just finished anyway." Bailey opens the door and leaves the room. She walks down the hallway and goes down the stairs, leaving Jacob. Angelina stands there awkwardly. Jacob goes after Bailey and follows her.

Bailey walks through the living room where the others are playing, they didn't notice Bailey walking across the room. Bailey passes through and opens the garage door. She decided to stay there to avoid everyone for a while. Jacob walks down the stairs and sees the garage door close. He passes through the living room and walks into the garage. Anna notices Jacob going inside the garage but ignores it and continues playing games. Jacob enters the garage, the lights were off and it was too dark to see inside. Bailey says "Why the hell did you follow me?" Jacob says "When you said I deserve to feel guilty..." Bailey says "Yes, you do! You lied to me!" Jacob says "Lied to you? About what?" She says "About not being able to save Matthew. Valeria told me the full story." Jacob becomes confused.

She continues "She said you were already over the fence before them. Why didn't you help him?" Jacob says "I did try to help him!" Bailey says "No you didn't! You just stood there and left him by himself!" Jacob says "You weren't there so how would you know?" Bailey says "Because Valeria wouldn't lie to me." Jacob becomes angry. He says "The reason why he's even dead is because of her anyway." Bailey says "Wow. So now you're blaming Valeria just to clear your own guilty conscience? You're even more pathetic than I thought!" Jacob says "He died saving her, Bailey. If she didn't jump down thinking she's supergirl your boyfriend would still be here." Bailey says "Boyfriend?!?" she gets angry and says "Just because I had feelings for him doesn't mean he's my boyfriend." Jacob says "You would've asked him out anyway, right? You blame me because you hate yourself for wasting time and being a coward." Bailey becomes furious, she says "You!" she throws her hands at him and attacks him, he grabs her wrists trying to restrain her. She yells at him saying "LET GO OF ME! You're just jealous because Matthew actually had love interests despite being a wimp! While you had NO ONE!" Jacob grits his teeth angrily while staring at her.

She continues to say "You must be happy he's dead, right? That's why you took advantage of me like a pervert!" Jacob loses it. He pushes her against the wall and says "Matthew was my best friend, you stupid bitch! Why would I wish for him to die? I tried to help him! I would push the stick I had through the fence just to help him get a grip just to get up! I would encourage him and tell him he's almost there! I even climbed to the top just to grab a hold of his hand and pull him over when he came close enough. He was almost there, like I could touch his fingertips... ready to grab his hand and pull him over. But then he jumped off and risked his life for Valeria. After he jumped off there was nothing I could do. Where were you when this shit happened? Huh? Oh, that's right..." Jacob angrily releases her wrists throwing them down. He says "You know what, I'm done. I tried to be understanding, I tried to show you how sorry I was, I was sorry for you. But now I know I'm wasting my time with a cold bitch who thinks she has had it worst than everyone else when everyone around her is suffering just as bad if not worst." Bailey was shocked how Jacob snapped at her. She never expected his reaction.

While Jacob and Bailey were arguing Angelina came downstairs and watched the others play video games. Although the TV was loud she thought she heard something, like an angry yell. Angelina goes over to Anna and asks "Did you hear that?" Anna replies "Hear what?" Angelina says "I thought I heard yelling." Anna says "No, I didn't hear anything. Where did it come from?" Angelina says "I'm not sure but it was definitely nearby." Anna says "I mean... I did see Jacob walk into the garage earlier." Angelina says "Do you think Bailey and Jacob are arguing in there? The yell sounded like it came from a female.?" Anna says "We should probably go check." Angelina says "What if it's personal? I don't think we should interfere" Anna says "What if it's serious?" Anna and Angelina hears a bump, like someone fell or got pushed. Angelina says "Yeah we should go check!" Anna and Angelina went to see what's happening. Carl says "Anna! Where are you going??" Anna ignores him. Angelina opens the door, it was too dark to see but from the livingroom light Anna and Angelina could see Jacob and Bailey in there. Angelina asks "What's happening? I heard yelling and fighting so don't tell me it's nothing!" Anna steps inside and turns on the garage light but what they see inside is unexpected. When she turned the lights on they saw a military hummer inside. Carl, Valeria, Ally and Isabella came to see what's up. They noticed the vehicle and said "Wooah!" Carl said "How did we not see this before?" Valeria says "I don't think we looked at the garage when we arrived." the others were oblivious to what was going on with Jacob and Bailey. Jacob walked pass the others and left the garage. Bailey looked shaken from how Jacob reacted, she didn't know whether she should go or stay. The others went inside to check the military hummer but Anna and Angelina weren't going to let go of this case so easily. Bailey walked out of the garage and went upstairs. Anna asked Angelina "Which one are you gonna talk to?" Angelina says "I'll talk with Bailey, you try and get something out of Jacob." Angelina went upstairs to speak with Bailey.

Angelina walked up to the bedroom and tried to open the door but the door was locked. Angelina says "Bailey, could you open the door please?" Bailey says "Go away! I know you're trying to talk to me. I don't want to talk!" from the tone of her voice it sounded like she was crying. Angelina says "Listen, as long as we're in this situation we shouldn't be hiding stuff from each other, even if you don't want me to know the full story you could at least just say something..." Angelina hears nothing but silence from Bailey, she could hear her sniffling a little bit. After a moment of silence Bailey finally unlocked the door. Angelina walked in and saw Bailey sitting on the couch. Angelina asks "Were you crying?" Bailey says "No!" but her eyes were red and puffy, she sniffled a little bit. Angelina asks "Is there something going on between you and Jacob?" Bailey stays silent. Angelina says "I'm not gonna ask what happened because it's none of my business. But I just want to know what kind of beef you and Jacob are having between each other. Because, like it or not it will affect us. We’re together as a group, remember that." Bailey wipes her nose and says "He wanted to talk to me, we said some things, things started to escalate and then we started arguing. That's it." Angelina says "I see. Does it involve anyone else besides you and him?" Bailey says "No. At least no one that's alive anyway..." Angelina says "Oh, well if you need comfort I'm here, okay?" Bailey says "I don't need any comfort! Now please leave me alone." Angelina says "Okay." she then walks off to leave the room. Bailey says "Wait!" Angelina stops and turns around, she asks "What is it?" Bailey says "Do I act like a cold person?" Angelina says "You do come off cold and distant at times but I don't think it's intentional. I always thought that’s just how you were." Bailey then asks "Do I look that vulnerable to you right now? I've never had anyone offering comfort or help before." Angelina says "You do look hurt, that's for sure." Bailey says "I see." Angelina says "I'm not sure what Jacob said or done but I do hope things get resolved between you two soon." Angelina steps out of the bedroom and closes the door. Bailey lies down on the bed and stares at the ceiling. She sighs and wipes her eyes.

Anna looks around the house for Jacob, she couldn't see him anywhere inside. When she looked inside the kitchen she couldn't see any signs of him being there. But her eyes took a glance at the backdoor, the kitchen backdoor was unlocked. Anna was wondering what he was even doing outside. She opened the door and went outside. Jacob was standing in the backyard gazing over the fence. Anna walks up to him slowly and asks him "Jacob, are you okay?" he replies back to her in a monotone voice saying "Yeah." Anna knew he wasn't going to tell her much but she asked anyway "What's going on, Jacob?" Jacob says "It's none of your business." Anna says "I figured you weren’t going to say much. Well I want you to keep in mind that we’re in this together and shouldn’t hide things. You aren’t in highschool anymore you know. And I don’t want the group to fall apart because of unsolved problems." He tells her "Even if I told you it wouldn't make a difference anyway. It would probably just make things worse." he continues "Look, you don't have to be concerned about it breaking the group apart. It's just between me and her, no one else is involved." Anna says "Well at least you've cleared my concerns. I understand it is personal, I just hope you both get your problems resolved as soon as possible." Jacob says "Well that all depends on her." Anna says "Jacob, please. You know problems aren't one sided. Fix both of your differences and everything will be good." Anna walks back to go inside, before going in she says "Oh, Jacob." he replies "What?" she says "Try not to argue, it never solves problems. Trust me." Jacob takes what Anna says into consideration. He continues to gaze off into the distance to catch some air before going back inside.

Evening time came. Bailey and Jacob haven’t spoken a word to each other. Angelina was cooking dinner along with Anna and Ally. Valeria had suggested they should try making tacos so that’s what the girl’s were cooking today. It was time to eat dinner and everyone was called to the dining table to eat. Jacob and Bailey were the only ones that didn’t show up. Anna sets the food onto the table and Carl started digging in. Angelina says “Good thing we’ve made enough then...” Valeria says “Yeah. I’m starving so much I could eat a horse.” Valeria started packing tacos down her mouth. Anna comments about Jacob and Bailey’s situation, she says “The tension between Jacob and Bailey is kind of concerning.” Carl says “Just leave them to release their frustrations. They’ll be over it.” Angelina says “No, Anna is right to be concerned. They’ve been like this all day and they aren’t telling us what’s wrong. I get it’s personal but their tension also affects us.” Anna says “Exactly! We’re a group now. Like it or not whatever tension goes on needs to be fixed if we’re going to stay together and survive.” Ally wanted to say something but she didn’t feel right telling the group about Jacob and Bailey’s personal mess. Ally says “What if I talk to them tomorrow?” Angelina says “It’s kinda no use. Me and Anna tried already.” Ally says “But they might be different with me. Maybe they aren’t comfortable talking to adults.” Anna says “I mean I guess? It’s not like we treat them like minors though.” Carl says **Cough** “You do.” **Cough** Anna says “Would you like me to reduce your food by half, Carl?” Carl says “No!! No!!! I won’t speak anymore, sorry!” Angelina says “Alright Ally, you can talk to them. But if this doesn’t change by tomorrow then we will step in.” Ally says “Yes, definitely.” Anna says “Okay, now that we’ve cleared that out of the way let’s eat.” The group dive into dinner and start filling their stomachs. After everyone is finished Anna decided to leave some tacos in the fridge for Bailey and Jacob. Carl watches her put them in the fridge. Anna turns around and notices him, she says “That is for Jacob and Bailey.” Carl says “I know.” Anna says “Then why are you looking at it then?” Carl says “I was just... looking. Hehehe...” Anna says “Get out.” Carl says “Okay! Okay! I won’t touch them.” Carl leaves the kitchen.

It was then nighttime and everyone took turns taking showers. Jacob used the shower in Carl’s room again. Jacob decided to wait for everyone to go to bed before he goes downstairs to the livingroom to sleep. He used Carl’s room as a temporary hideout. Bailey went downstairs to the kitchen to find something to drink. She walked past the trashcan and noticed something in there. She went to pick it up and saw that it was a bottle of Champagne. She thought to herself *Who threw this in the trash?* she shrugged and took it with her. She hid in the garage to drink in there. Isabella heads to the bedroom and asks Anna “Has Bailey finished showering? I can’t seem to find her.” Anna says “She’s probably hiding in the garage. Let’s just leave her be for now.” Isabella says “Yeah, I wasn’t going to bother her. I hope she fixes her problems with Jacob.” Anna says “Same.” Isabella says “Well I’m going to bed. Good night.” Isabella hugs Anna, Anna says “Nighty night!”. Bailey finally goes to bed while it’s later into the night. She thought everyone would be sleeping by now but Angelina was still awake reading a book. Bailey was startled and says “Oh! You’re still awake...” Angelina says “Yeah. It’s hard to sleep early nowadays like I used to.” she continues “I don’t really read books by the way. It’s just that I’m bored.” Bailey says “I see. Well I’m going to bed now.” Angelina says “I can smell alcohol on you. You’ve been drinking, right?” Bailey says “Yeah and so what? Leave me alone.” Bailey lays on the couch and throws the blanket over her head. She turns off the lamp light and goes to sleep. Angelina sighs, she closes and puts down her book. She gets comfy on the bed and slowly drifts to sleep.

Next morning came and everyone came to eat breakfast at the table except Jacob and Bailey. Anna says “Looks like they’re still ignoring each other.” Angelina goes into the fridge and notices a couple of tacos are missing. It looks like one of them ate it last night. Ally says “Don’t worry. I’ll talk to Bailey after breakfast.” Angelina takes a seat at the table and says “A few tacos are missing. I’m guessing Jacob ate it before going to bed.” she continues “Sigh, this feels so annoying. Why can’t they just straighten out their shit?” Jacob surprisingly walked in to eat breakfast. Anna says “Oh, you came to eat breakfast?” Jacob says “Yeah.” Anna says “Well we didn’t make much pancakes but you can have mine if yo-“ Jacob cuts in to say “I’ll just take cereal.” Jacob grabs a bowl and pours in cereal and milk. Everyone at the table stare at each other silently. Jacob leaves to go eat in the livingroom. After everyone else finishes their breakfast Ally looks for Bailey upstairs to talk.

Ally knocks on the bedroom door and says “Bailey, aren’t you coming downstairs to eat breakfast?” Bailey responds “Not hungry.” Ally asks “Well can I at least come in?” she gets no response. Ally decides to walk in anyways since the bedroom door isn’t locked. Bailey says to her “You don’t need to ask, we’re obviously sharing this room with no choice anyway...” Ally says “Bailey we need to talk.” Bailey says “If talking is what you came in for then you might as well leave. I don’t want to talk.” Ally says “This is serious. The tension between you and Jacob is troubling.” Bailey says “Then mind your own business.” Ally says “How can we when we’re a group of survivors forced to stay together? You should know already that we need to stay together to survive and having tensions and conflicts won’t help with that.” Bailey stays silent. Ally says “I overheard you guys that night, when you were arguing by the stairs.” Bailey’s eyes widens and she looks at Ally. She says “What... How much did you hear?” Ally says “Only a bit. But it was enough to know that you’re hurt because you’ve lost someone.” she continues “I haven’t told anyone what I’ve heard. I don’t know exactly what’s going on between the two of you but you guys need to fix your problems. This is affecting us a group.” Bailey says “It’s not that simple. We can’t just ‘fix our problems’ and be a whole happy family.” Ally says “Then talk to me, tell me what’s wrong.” Bailey says “Just leave it alone, Ally. There is no way to deal with an asshole like Jacob.” Ally says “Bailey, the group will eventually step in if you’re not going to do anything about this.” Bailey says “Ugh, why can’t anyone in this house mind their own BUSINESS!” Ally says “Because we’re in this together! If one has problems it will affect us all. What happens if you two hate each other to the point where you can’t stand to be in the same group? Then what?” Bailey says “That won’t happen because it’s not like I have anywhere else to go to anyway!” Ally says “Bailey, just-“ Bailey says “No. I’m not talking about this anymore! Just go!” Ally knows there is no way of convincing her, Ally leaves the room. Angelina was relaxing in the livingroom. She sees Ally walking downstairs and asks her “Any luck?” Ally says “Nope. She’s unwilling to talk things out.” Angelina says “Hmm.” Ally says “I’ll talk to Jacob.” Angelina says “Alright.”.

Ally finds Jacob chilling in the laundry room. He asks Ally “What is it?” Ally says “Jacob, you need to fix your issues with Bailey. The tension between you guys is affecting us.” Jacob says “Well tell her then. I don’t get why you’re telling me.” Ally says “Because you’re being just as stubborn as her, you’re no different.” Jacob says “And do what exactly? She has a problem with me, I didn’t have any problems with her up until yesterday.” Ally says “Well maybe if you told me what the problem is I would understand better.” Jacob says “As I said a moment ago, ask her.” Ally says “I did, she isn’t speaking.” Jacob says “Well neither will I.” Ally tells him “Jacob if you two don’t fix your mess then we will step in.” Jacob says “Or maybe you could mind your own business? That sounds like a better idea.” Ally says “I overheard your conversation that night. She blames you for his death, right?” Jacob pauses and looks at her. Ally says “I don’t like assuming things but this fight surely isn’t in your favor right now. So maybe tell me the full story and I won’t have to jump to conclusions.” Jacob asks “Did you tell anyone else?” Ally says “No but from how you two are acting I may not have any other choice.” Jacob says “Okay, fine.” he continues “It’s... complicated. She’s like this because of Matthew’s death, but it’s not my fault! She’s only blaming me because I couldn’t do anything to save him! I don’t know what got over her but she’s never acted like this before.” Ally says “So you’re saying this is one sided?” Jacob replies “Well, yes. Because I didn’t have any problem until she started accusing me.” Ally says “Well even if this is one sided you can still settle things by talking to her.” Jacob says “Talking to her is no use.” Ally says “Well doing nothing won’t fix it either. Maybe try being the bigger person for once and finally break the silence between you two. Talk things out and understand each other better.” Jacob says “Pfft I’ll think about it.” Ally says “It’s up to you what you wanna do. Just letting you know that the group won’t stay on standby for much longer.” Jacob says “Sigh, I know. I’ll talk to her later I guess...” Ally says “Okay, good luck!” Ally leaves the laundry room.

Ally did her best to stay as neutral as possible when talking to both Jacob and Bailey. Ally knew that getting Jacob to approach Bailey on the situation would be easier than doing it vice versa. However, Ally was hoping that lying to Bailey about only hearing a little bit of the argument and telling her the others will step in will somehow encourage her to want to straighten things out with Jacob by herself. She knows both can be equally stubborn, she also knew Jacob would be easier to persuade. If this talk doesn’t get Jacob and Bailey to fix their problems then nothing else will.

Early afternoon came and some of the group decided to do target practice in the backyard. Carl thought it wouldn’t be easy to convince Anna about this however Anna was very open to the idea of practicing. She knows it’s important to protect yourself in the apocalypse. However Anna has set down one rule, that rule was for Carl to only be allowed to shoot a pistol. Anna doesn’t trust Carl with any other weapons after hearing about that accident he had with Jacob the other day. Carl wasn’t very happy to hear this so he wasn’t so eager to do practice as much as he was before. Almost everybody came outside for practice except for Bailey. It took Carl a bit of effort to convince Jacob and Jacob eventually agreed to do it. Isabella tells Anna “Hey, I’ll just stand here and watch you guys.” Anna asks “Why not practice with us?” Isabella says “I don’t really like handling guns...” Anna says “But you need to protect yourself. You’ll never know what situation you’ll end up in.” Isabella says “I know but we’ll be together for most of the time. You guys can handle the guns.” Anna says “But what if a situation comes where I’m not there to protect you? What if none of us are there to protect you? You’ll never know when such situation may appear.” Isabella “I know, Anna. I’ll tell you what, I will practice with a melee weapon so you won’t have to worry about me too much, okay?” Anna says “Sigh, fair enough.” Isabella smiles at her.

Zombies started to crowd around the backyard fence. Carl says “Look! They’re here!” Anna says “Okay guys, aim for the head and don’t forget to put safety on once you’re finished.”. The crew started to shoot at the zombies. Angelina kept missing shots. Anna sometimes hits and sometimes misses. Jacob surprisingly has not missed a single shot yet. Angelina says “Ugh, my aim is shit.” Jacob says “How comes you keep missing shots? It’s not even that hard.” Angelina says “Well you have a handgun and I have a rifle.” Carl says “It’s also because you aren’t shooting correctly.” Jacob says “Here we go again with the shooting games expert...” Carl says “Since you’re shooting a rifle you’re suppose to have the back of the rifle pressing on your shoulder. You’re also stretching out your left arm too much, try pulling your arm back a bit to relax it.” Angelina did what Carl told her and she started hitting zombies although she missed their head. Angelina says “Fuck ya! I got a hit!” Carl says “You didn’t hit them in the head though. But it’s not something a little bit of aiming practice won’t fix!”.

Jacob says “I’m surprised. You’re not talking video game gibberish for once.” Jacob puts the safety on the gun and heads back inside. Anna asks “You’re not going to practice with another gun?” Jacob says “Nah. My aim isn’t bad anyway, I’ll be fine.” Jacob walks off. Ally walks over to Anna and says “Maybe he’s going to talk to Bailey.” Anna says “I hope so. By the way are you going to practice too?” Ally says “Nah. I prefer my katana.” Valeria jumps in and says “I WANNA TRY! GIVE ME THE SHOTGUN!!” Valeria pulls out a shotgun and shoots immediately. Everyone got frightened by the sudden *BANG* they hear. Angelina says “Val, what the fuck. You didn’t even aim it properly!” Valeria says “But I hit it!” Anna says “You scared the shit out of us!” Carl says “Yeah, give us a warning next time.” Valeria says “Okay. Sorry ya’ll!”. Anna changes out her gun for a rifle. Carl decided to practice shooting after silently sulking behind everyone. Valeria kept missing the heads of the zombies but she blows off their bodies with the shotgun. Ally says “Valeria, you gotta aim for the head!” Valeria says “I’m trying! Blowing off their bodies is kinda sick though.” Carl keeps missing headshots, he says “Damn it! This is a lot harder than PUBG...” Angelina gets better with her aim each shot she takes. She’s fairly satisfied with the result. Anna says “Well shooting with a rifle is definitely harder but at least I got a decent amount of shots.”. The crew decided to wrap things up and call it a day.

While the crew was practicing outside Jacob took Ally’s advice and tried to smooth things out with Bailey. As Jacob walks into the livingroom he sees Bailey about to go upstairs. Jacob says “Bailey!” Bailey says “Ugh. What do you want now?” Jacob says “We need to talk.” Bailey says “Oh, so now you wanna talk? Tch.” Jacob asks “Can we talk in private?” Bailey tells him “Just say what you need to say right here.” He says “Fine.” He continues “I don’t know what your problem is with me exactly but blaming me for Matthew’s death is ridiculous. I couldn’t do shit about that incident! Things just turned out that way and I did all I could!” Bailey says “My problem with you? You don’t know what the problem is??? Jacob if anyone is the problem it’s you! You were the one that provoked me with your insensitive words! You were the one that played dumb and acted like you did nothing wrong! You were the one that lied to me!”.

Jacob yells at her and says “ABOUT WHAT? You were the one that brought up Matthew’s fucking death, BLAMED ME for it, and now you’re acting like I murdered him with my own- Jacob paused and remembered when he had to shoot Matthew to put him down. Bailey says “Oh stop playing victim, Jacob. Are we going to forget when you kept freezing up when I ASKED You if there was any way you could’ve saved Matthew? When I was soaked in tears and you took advantage of me? When you provoked that argument and saying how Matthew was my boyfriend when YOU KNEW how I felt about him and how my situation with him was? Tell me, why do you keep freezing up every time I ask you that? Is it because there was something you could’ve done which you didn’t and now you feel guilty? Is that it?” Jacob snaps at her, saying “Shut the fuck up Bailey! You ALSO knew how close Matthew and I was, he was like a brother to me! Why wouldn’t I do something to save someone who’s like a brother to me? And don’t fucking act like you didn’t start shit first by trying to paint me as a murderer. And to add more bullshit you’re now trying to say I’m a predator when you were the one breathing on my face like a bitch in heat!” Bailey grabs a vase and throws it at Jacob, the vase hits his head. Bailey yells at him “GO TO FUCKING HELL JACOB!” the crew walked in from the kitchen backdoor and heard the yell, they rushed into the livingroom and saw that Jacob had a big cut on his head. Shards of the vase was scattered all over the floor. Bailey stomped her way upstairs and slammed the bedroom door. Everyone has a shocked and confused look on their face. Anna says “What the hell happened in here?” Jacob walks away in silence and heads to Carl’s room, blood is dripping everywhere from his head. Ally nudges Angelina and says “Hey, I need to talk to you about something...”.

Angelina and Ally step into the garage to have a private talk. Ally says “I think I know what this whole thing is about.” Angelina says “You do? Spill the beans.” Ally says “Well one night ago when most of us were drunk Jacob and Bailey were arguing by the stairs.” Angelina says “What else?” Ally says “I’m not sure about this exactly but it seems like Bailey blames him for their friend’s death. It even got bad to the extent that Bailey pushed him halfway down the stairs.” Angelina says “Oh wow...” Ally says “After they fell down the stairs I couldn’t see anything through the door but it went silent for a while. Then Bailey told him to just pretend that their fight didn’t happen.” Angelina asks “But why would she blame him though? Did he do something wrong?” Ally says “I have no idea, I wasn’t there. I think Valeria will know this better since she was with them.” Angelina says I’ll ask her about it then.” Angelina goes to ask Valeria who was chilling in the livingroom. Valeria says “I kinda don’t want to keep talking about that incident so I will just tell it to all of you right now.” Valeria tells the group how the situation happened. Everyone was felt a bit sad from hearing the story. Angelina says to Ally “I’m not sure about you but it feels like she’s being petty about this. I mean what more was Jacob supposed to do?” Ally shrugs, she says “I don’t think this is one sided though. Jacob told me it is but I think he’s at fault too.” Angelina says “And we can’t even find out the full story when both off them refuse to talk.” She continues “I’m tired of this shit.” Angelina heads off upstairs. Ally says “Wait! What are you going to do?” Angelina says “Talk.”.

Angelina barges into the bedroom door. Bailey sits up and asks her “The hell do you guys want now? If this is about Jacob-“ Angelina says “Yes this is about Jacob and you’re going to talk right now. I don’t know what your deal is with Jacob or this Matthew guy but you need to stop this shit. You’re being petty blaming Jacob for his death.” Bailey says to her “You don’t know anything! Did you know he was over the fence when Matthew was struggling? He literally watched him die!” Angelina says “No he didn’t. Valeria already told me he tried to help. Maybe being over the other side of the fence wasn’t ideal but he DID help.” Bailey says “And how would you know he helped? You weren’t there!” Angelina says “And neither were you! Valeria already told me he helped him up and even reached his hand out for him. The point right now is that you’re being petty and dragging out this unnecessary mess right now! Get your shit together and fix things with him.” Bailey says “You just want me to forget about Matthew and pretend that everything is fucking okay?” Angelina says “Stop being a fucking drama queen Bailey. You aren’t the only one that lost someone. Hell, we don’t even know who else we lost. When the outbreak happened I had to watch my office co-workers die right in front of my eyes. I heard their screams for help. I watched them get taken apart piece by piece. Those co-workers may have been annoying and a pain in the ass but they were people that cheered me up and entertained me when I was feeling down. People that had put a smile on my face. And now they’re dead. So no, I don’t want you to forget Matthew, I want you to move the fuck on.” Bailey stays silent for a moment.

Angelina noticed tears are starting to form in her eyes. Bailey says “I... sigh. Maybe you’re right...” She continues “I’m sorry for causing you guys stress and tension. I have an awful habit of dragging onto things for a long time and it’s not the first time I have been called out for it.” Angelina says “Someone called you out?” Bailey says “My mother...” Angelina says “Oh.” She continues “So are you going to fix things with Jacob now?” Bailey says “Fix things with that piece of shit?” Angelina says “Bailey!” Bailey says “No, fuck Jacob! Especially after all the insensitive shit he said and done to me.” Angelina says “What did he do???” Bailey says “He called Matthew my boyfriend even though he was not! Took advantage of me when I was vulnerable and grabbed my breast, and then he had the NERVE to say I was acting like a ‘Bitch in heat’ just because we had that one awkward moment together!” Angelina says “What the fuck? I didn’t even know he did that shit.” Angelina walks out of the bedroom in a rush. Bailey says “Huh? Where are you going???”

Angelina rushes downstairs and grabs Anna by the arm, Anna asks “Hey! What are you doing?” Angelina tells Anna about the things Jacob did, she says “??? That’s unacceptable as hell!” Angelina says “That’s why me and you are gonna deal with his ass right now!”.

Jacob was in Carl’s room. He was pressing a wet cloth to his wound on the side of his head. Anna and Angelina barge into Carl’s room, both of them were really angry with him. Jacob says “If this is about Bailey I’m not interested.” Angelina says “Well you better get fucking interested before I make that wound on your head larger. What the fuck were you thinking treating Bailey like that?” Jacob says “Like what exactly? She was the one blaming me for-“ Angelina says “Not that, you dense fuck! I’m talking about the tit grabbing and insults.” Jacob says “I didn’t know! She was awkwardly close to me and I thought she wanted to kiss or something! I wasn’t thinking!” Angelina says “More like you were thinking with your dick.” Anna says “Your excuse is trash and you’re trash, Jacob. What you’ve done is unacceptable and you need to take responsibility for that shit!” Angelina says “And the way you assumed her being sad and depressed meant that she wanted sex was absolutely disgusting.” Jacob says “I know and I do feel ashamed for that, I really do! I’m very sorry! I don’t think when I get angry and say insensitive things out of spite.” Anna says “Well don’t apologize to us, apologize to her right now and SINCERELY too!” Angelina says “And if you don’t fix your shit I will throw your ass out for the zombies.” Jacob says “I will apologize I swear!” Anna says “The fact that we had to stand up just to make you apologize is concerning.” Jacob says “I did apologize multiple times about the grabbing incident but I will apologize again.” Angelina says “hmph.” and walks out the room. Anna also leaves.

Late afternoon came and everything was silent. The tension was still there but not as bad as it was before. Anna and Angelina were waiting inside the kitchen, they were waiting for Jacob to make a move. Ally walks into the kitchen for a snack. Angelina asks “Has that fuckhead apologized to her yet?” Ally says “I don’t think so?” Angelina says “That’s it, I’m gonna-“ Anna grabs Angelina and says “Wait! Look!” it was Jacob going upstairs. Angelina says “Finally, I’m tempted to eavesdrop and see if he’s really going to give a sincere apology.” Anna suggests “Let’s just leave them. I’m sure Bailey will know whether it’s sincere or not.”.

Jacob knocks on the door, he says “Bailey, I’ve came to apologize to you...” Bailey stays silent for a moment. After a moment Bailey says “Come in!” Jacob walks into the room. Bailey was sitting on the bed, it almost seems like she was waiting for him. Jacob says “I’m sorry for calling you a ‘Bitch in heat’ earlier. I was angry and my feelings were hurt, I wanted to spite you and so I said that. I’m sorry for touching you like that as well. I knew you were hurt, I knew you were frustrated and sad inside, but I was an idiot that had his head in the gutter. I couldn’t help myself... I was weak and stupid. And last but not least I’m sorry for referring Matthew as your ‘boyfriend’. It was awful of me to say such a thing after you poured your heart out to me that night about how you felt about him. And... I’m going to tell you the truth, something I’ve never had the guts to tell you. Bailey. I have feelings for you! I’ve only had these feelings very recently and I still have these feelings! I was pissed and upset with the way you would compare me to Matthew, how you would cry over him and shit on me at the same time. It made my blood boil, and so I said all those horrible things. I felt love and hate for you.” Bailey stares at Jacob with a shocked face. They both stare at each other in silence for a minute. Bailey breaks the silence and says “I never knew you felt that way Jacob.” Jacob says “I was too much of a coward to tell you. Even after you confessed how you felt about Matthew, about Valeria, everything.” Bailey says “I also apologize about blaming you for Matthew’s death. I was being stupid and just wanted someone to blame and put all my frustration on. I wanted to believe my own narrative that you allowed him to die... I’m really sorry too!” she continues “I accept your apology and I forgive you!” Jacob says “I also accept your apology! Let’s just put this mess behind us once and for all.” Bailey says “Yes, I agree.” Bailey gets up, she was about to go downstairs. Jacob says “Wait!” Bailey says “Hmm?” Jacob says “aren’t you going to respond to my confession...” Bailey says “Oh... umm. Jacob, I’m sorry but I’m not sure if I feel the same way you do. I’m really not looking for a relationship right now.” Jacob says “I had a feeling.” Bailey says “I’m sorry.” Jacob says “No, its fine.” Bailey walks over and pats his shoulder, she then leaves the room to go downstairs. Although Jacob said its fine he wasn’t really feeling fine. He was heartbroken.

Bailey walks downstairs and sees everyone is chilling on the couch. They all look at Bailey, Bailey says “We’re not fighting anymore. We fixed our differences.” She smiles. Angelina says “Was he sincere? I hope it wasn’t a halfassed apology.” Bailey says “Oh not at all! He was serious.” Angelina says “Good, I hope he means it though.” Isabella says “I’m happy for you guys!” Jacob comes downstairs, he looks at everyone else then looks at Bailey. Anna and Angelina still gave him a disgusted look. Carl says “So now that everything is good what do you guys think about dinner? Eh? Eeeh??” Bailey says “Can we not have a happy moment without you thinking about stuffing yourself 24/7?” Carl says “But.. But being happy makes me hungry!” Bailey rolls her eyes and says “Chubby!” Jacob smirks and says “It’s good to have you back, Bailey.”.

Evening time came by fast and everyone decided what to have for dinner. The group decided on having a chicken dinner today. This time Bailey joined in on the cooking, she helped cooked the rice. Anna helped made the mashed potatoes and gravy. Angelina, Ally, and Valeria made the chicken. Once the cooking was done everyone came to the dinner table to eat. Bailey brought in bottles of wine and champagne, she also bought juice and sodas for the others. Angelina asks her “Are you trying to get us drunk again?” Bailey says “No way! I just wanted to celebrate.” Angelina says “Oh, celebrate what though?” Bailey says “You know... fixing our problems, us still being together as a group, etc.” the group poured out drinks into their glasses. Angelina says “Welp, let’s make a toast to still being alive!” everyone said **Cheers** and took a sip from their glass. Bailey says “Before you guys start feasting I’d like to thank you guys for putting up with me and Jacob’s bullshit. We were both too immature and stubborn to fix our own problems and needed help. So thank you!” she raises her glass, Jacob and everyone else raises their glass too.

Carl says “I have an idea, how about we take turns giving each other our thoughts and advice?” Anna says “Why do that?” Carl says “Well, we all have our flaws n all and we know it’s good to communicate to fix our problems, so I thought why not share our advice and thoughts to each other? Let each other know if we have a complaint or if one of us did something wrong.” Angelina says “Good idea! ” Carl gets up first and says “Anna, please stop acting like a mom and treating us like kids.” Anna says “What? I didn’t mean to act like a ‘mom’, I was only trying to keep you guys from getting hurt! But... thanks for letting me know I suppose, you know I don’t mean to be impulsive to anyone.” Carl says “It’s okay Anna, I know you’re only trying to protect us. But you gotta put a lot more trust into us you know.” Anna says “I’ll keep that in mind.”. Angelina stands up next and says “This one is for Valeria. Val, you’re a badass girl and I love you so much! But please don’t scare the shit out of us like you did earlier, you’re gonna give one of us a heart attack someday I swear.” Valeria says “I’ll try but I won’t keep any promises!” she smirks. Bailey takes a turn next and says “Isabella, I don’t really know much about you so it would be nice if you talked to us more often. You know we won’t bite!” Isabella nods at her. Jacob stands up next and says “Carl my dude I know you love games but you gotta stop comparing real life to fiction.” Carl says “Yeah Yeah I got it. You told me this plenty times before dude.” Anna takes her turn standing up and says “Bailey, I’ve noticed you’ve got a pretty hot temper, try to be level headed in situations, okay?” Bailey says “Noted.” Valeria doesn’t bother to stand up and says “Well for Jacob, my advice for you is to stop being a tight ass sometimes. You needa let loose dude.” Jacob stares at her with a blank face and says to her “Interesting way to phrase things.” Ally says “I don’t really have anything to say” Isabella says “Same.” Angelina says “Well then, now that all the gibber is out of the way, let’s dig in!”.

While eating at the table the crew had a good chit chat with some drinks. Laughs and smiles was all over the table. Anna felt warm seeing that everyone was happy. It was almost like they were already a family. Angelina cracked a few dumb jokes everyone laughed at. Valeria was pulling off a few food tricks at the table. Bailey thought that now that everyone was gathered together now would be a good time to talk about a topic she had on her mind for a while. Bailey says “So what’s going to happen after the food runs out here?” Anna says “That’s a very sudden thing to bring up, especially at this time. Well... I think we should scavenge for supplies once we do run out.” Bailey says “But we also have families we need to contact. I honestly don’t think we can stay here forever.” Jacob says “I agree but safety is also our concern right now.” Bailey says “We have weapons, firearms, supplies to hold us for a while even after we run out of food. We’re aren’t that badly in danger now.” Angelina agrees with her and says “You’re right, we’ll have to move on eventually and find our friends and families, new shelter, and most importantly other survivors.” Ally says “And even if we waited for our supplies to run out it wouldn’t make much of a difference even if we left now.” Anna says “You have a point.” Jacob says “I still think we should wait a bit. Let’s think this through first. Remember, safety is really our only concern. Even if we have protection and resources.” Angelina says “It’s whatever then. It’s not like the choice we choose make that much of a difference.”. After a while everyone became full and couldn’t eat anymore, except for Carl. Carl took everyone’s leftovers and ate it. Bailey stares at him. Carl says “What?” Bailey says “Nothing, chubby.” Carl groans and says “I miss the days where you stop calling me that!” Bailey says “Pfft. Anyway I’m feeling sleepy so I’m gonna crash to bed earlier tonight.” Bailey goes upstairs to take a shower.

Nighttime came once again and the girls were preparing to go to bed. Ally talked about how much fun she had tonight, Angelina agreed with her saying “I didn’t think we’d be smiling again while in this situation but here we are.” Ally says “I wonder what happened to our families though...” Angelina says “Sigh, I really have no idea. I kinda try not to think the worst though but...” Isabella says “When the apocalypse happened I lost contact with my sister. I don’t know where she is or if she’s even alive.” Angelina says “Oh.” Isabella says “I’m losing hope. I doubt she’s even alive. I think I’m too late...” Angelina says “No, don’t think that!” Ally says “Yeah she could still be out there, maybe she’s with a group of survivors like us. You’ll never know for now.” Isabella says “I hope so but I’m not sure.” Ally says “I wish we could go out there and look for our family to be honest.” Bailey says “Then what’s stopping us?” Angelina says “Lack of safety I guess? This is the only shelter we have.” Bailey says “We can’t stay here forever anyway. Eventually we’ll have to move when the food runs out.” Ally asks “And go where?” Angelina says “Maybe another city? Not saying it will be better than Middlefort or Carsona but you’ll never know what we’ll find.” Bailey says “We can think about it another day I guess. Anyway, I’m going to bed. Goodnight!” Ally, Angelina, and Isabella says “Goodnight!” they all decide to go to sleep and discuss things in the morning.

Ally woke up in the middle of the night, she woke up sweating and a little teary in her eye. She must’ve had a nightmare but not able to remember it. She decides to quietly go downstairs and get a glass of water. She grabs a glass and pours water in it. In a few gulps the water is gone. She feels better than she did a moment ago. Ally was about to go to bed until she hears something. She heard shrieking but it was louder than usual and sounded like it was multiple shrieks. Ally takes a peek to look outside, only to find a huge hoard of zombies walking down the neighborhood. Ally gasps a little. She wonders where they’re going and why they’re so many. Staring at the hoard walking down the street made Ally feel uncomfortable so she closes the curtains. As Ally was about to go back upstairs she hears a scream outside. It sounded like it came from a child.

Ally rushes to the window and looks outside, she couldn’t see anything. Then she looks down the street a little further, she saw a child standing on top of a truck. Zombies were surrounding the child trying to grab at her. Ally says out loud “No! We have to save her!” Jacob wakes up from the couch he was sleeping on and notices Ally was looking out the window in the livingroom, He asks “What’s wrong?” Ally says “There’s a child trapped outside! We have to help her.” Jacob says “Oh shit!” while rushing off of the couch. He quickly changes out of his pajamas into his clothes while Ally runs upstairs to warn the others. Ally barges into the bedroom and wakes everyone up, she says “Guys!! Wake up!!! There is a child outside, she needs our help!” Angelina says “A what? What the hell is a child doing outside at this time.” Isabella says “Oh no!” the girls don’t bother changing out of their pajamas and rush straight outside. Carl says “Woah, holy shit! There is so many!” Bailey says “What the hell is even going on here?” giant swarms of zombies continue to walk down the neighborhood street.

Ally points in the direction of where the child is. She is crouching on top of a truck while scared for her life. Anna says “How did she even get up there? Who put her there?” Angelina says “No idea but we need to think of something QUICK.” Jacob says “We can’t leave from the gates. There’s too many of these dead shits.” Bailey says “Well thanks for pointing that out, captain obvious! Instead of pointing out things we already know how about we come up with an alternative ASAP?” Angelina says “What if I climb up the wall and walk my way across until I reach her?” Anna says “That’s too risky. You’ll be at risk of falling into a pool of zombies.” Carl says “What if we just pick them off by shooting them?” Jacob says “No, that’s a waste of bullets. There are too many of them. I’ll go ahead with Angelina’s plan instead.” Bailey says “No way! You could die!” Jacob says “Relax, I can hold my balance.” Bailey has a worried look on her face. Angelina says “If anyone’s going it’s me, I came up with the idea anyway. Don’t want anyone dying with my idea now.” Jacob says “If that’s the case then I’m going with you.” Angelina says “No.” Ally says “Can we quit arguing? We have a kid to save.” Angelina says “Right. Someone give me a lift!” Anna kneels down by the wall and cups her hand, she says “Here.” Angelina takes a step and Anna lifts her up. Jacob was about to do the same until Anna moved away. Jacob says “Dude?” Anna says “I’m not lifting you up, get Carl to do it.” Carl says “But why me?” Bailey says “Shut up and do it Chubby!” Carl groans and gets on all fours. Jacob steps up onto his back and climbs up the wall. Carl says “Ow ow ow! I think he broke my back!” Bailey says “Oh don’t be dramatic!”.

Angelina and Jacob balance their way walking across the wall. They get closer to the truck each step they take. Angelina says “I don’t get why you followed me.” Jacob says “I volunteered first.” Angelina says “It was my idea though. I would be fine on my own.” Jacob says “But I’m good at balancing, that’s why I wanted to do it. I came with you just in case you accidently lose your balance and need help.” Angelina says “Pfft. By the way, I still don’t like you!” Jacob says “I figured.” Angelina and Jacob were halfway there. They both yelled to the child saying “Hey! Over here! Look!” the child lifts her head up and sees them, her eyes widen. Angelina says “We’re gonna help you! Just stay put!” Jacob and Angelina move down the wall further but eventually they come to a stop.

Jacob says “Shit! There just had to be a gap in the wall...” Angelina says “That’s where the gate used to be before it got destroyed.” Jacob says “I can make the jump but the zombies are blocking the way with their arms.” Angelina says “Maybe we can call for a distraction to move them away.” Angelina yells “GUYS! WE NEED A DISTRACTION TO MOVE THESE ZOMBIES!” Bailey repeats what Angelina says to the others saying “She said she needs a distraction. We need to make a lot of noise to draw their attention here!” Valeria says “Well I have a good way of doing that.” Valeria runs over to the shorter gate at the front and starts kicking it. She’s making a lot of noise but it’s not doing enough. Angelina yells “IT’S NOT WORKING!” Carl starts banging on the bigger gate next to the short one but no luck. Bailey goes back inside the house to find something. The others keep making loud noise to bring attention.

Jacob says “Crap. It’s not working at all.” Angelina says “Wait, they’ll think of something.” Bailey comes back outside with an unexpected item, she says “This should do the trick!” Carl says “BAILEY! What the hell are you doing with a grenade???” Bailey says “We need to do something!” she unhooks the pin and throws the grenade over the fence. The grenade misses and bounces off the fence, landing on the floor. Isabella screams. Anna quickly runs over and picks up the grenade, she throws it over the fence. The grenade blows up across the street in mid air. Anna says “Watch how you throw that next time! You could’ve got us killed!!!” Bailey says “I’m sorry!”. It looked like the grenade worked, the zombies started following where the explosion impact happened. Angelina says “I knew they could do it! Let’s go!” Jacob takes a big leap jumping to the other side first. He stumbles a little bit but makes it up safely. Jacob says “Your turn!” Angelina takes a big leap to the other side and makes it up safely. As they both continue down the wall they begin to approach the zombies surrounding the truck. Some of the zombies turn their attention away from the child to Jacob and Angelina. They were almost there. While Jacob was going he accidentally slips on a loose block on the wall and starts to lose his balance. He says “Woah!” while swinging his arms around trying to retain balance. He leans forward and almost falls down into a group of zombies.

Angelina grabs his shirt and pulls him back up. Jacob says “Thanks! That was close.” Angelina scolds him and says “I thought you said you were good at balancing? This is why I wanted to go alone.” Jacob says “Well don’t worry, we’re almost there.”. Both of them walk down a little further until they were standing exactly opposite the truck. The child was crying, she says “Help me! Please!” Angelina says “Don’t worry! We’ll help!” Jacob says “So what now? The truck is in the middle so I’m not sure if we can make the jump.” Angelina says “Shit, I really didn’t think about bringing weapons...” Anna says “It looks like they’re stuck?” Bailey says “Yeah, I don’t think they can make that jump. At least I hope they don’t be stupid enough to try it anyway.”. Angelina says “If we use the zombie’s heads as a step maybe we can get over.” Jacob says “Are you insane?” Angelina says “Maybe. I’m gonna try anyway.” Jacob says “No! Wait!” Angelina leaps into the crowd of zombies, she steps onto one of the zombie’s heads and reaches for the truck, she gets a grip onto the side of the truck. Jacob says “Shit! Don’t fall!” Angelina manages to pulls herself up onto the top of the truck. Jacob has a bit of relief. Angelina says “Okay, now you try! Don’t worry I’ll pull you up if you fall, maybe.” Jacob says “I can’t believe I’m about to do this...” Bailey yells from afar “NO! STOP! YOU GUYS ARE INSANE!” Jacob takes a leap of faith and jumps for it. He misses his step on the zombies and falls down quicker than he expected.

Before he falls Angelina grabbed onto his arms. She says “Gotcha!” Angelina pulls him up, both of them are safe for now. Bailey says “I can’t believe they made it!” Jacob pants while trying to catch his breath. Angelina talks to the child, she asks “Where are you parents?” the child says “My mommy left us. Daddy told me she’ll come back later.” Angelina says “And your dad?” the child says “I don’t know! My daddy put me up here and told me not to move. And a group of creepy people surrounded him and he disappeared!” Angelina felt bad for the child, she knows she doesn’t realize that her parents are dead. Angelina says “Don’t worry sweetie, we’ll get you to safety!” Angelina picks up the child and carries her. Angelina realizes that there is no way for them to get back. Angelina says “Uh, Jacob.” Jacob replies “Huh?” Angelina says “We have a problem. We can’t get back.” Jacob looks and realizes it too. Jacob says “Great, now what?” Bailey says “They’re stuck again!” Anna says “Damn it! And they can’t jump this time because of the child.” Valeria says “What if we pick them up with the hummer we saw in the garage?” Anna says “That would work if anyone else knew how to drive.” Isabella says “But you do, Anna.” Anna says “No I don’t. I only took one test and I did less than average on it.” Bailey says “It doesn’t matter if you can drive good or not. We need to save them!” Carl says “Okay, so we pick them up and come back!” Bailey says “To be honest there is no point coming back, we should just leave.” Carl says “Huh??” Bailey says “We’ve already talked about this earlier. There is no point staying here anymore. Food will eventually run low and we’ll have to go anyway, why wait till then?” Anna says “You’re right! There would be no difference if we left now or later. Staying will just delay for the time we’ll have to leave.” Carl says “Do you think Angelina and Jacob are okay with that though?” Bailey says “Angelina will agree. Jacob will bitch about it but he’ll be okay.” Ally says “Yeah we should just do it. We have family to find anyway.” Isabella says “Agreed.” Anna says “Okay guys it’s time to pack! We’re moving on.”.

Everyone goes inside to pack food and their belongings. Angelina, Jacob and the little girl are trapped on top of the truck still. Jacob says “Do you think the others have some kind of plan?” Angelina says “Most likely. Just wait.”. Everyone got into the hummer and packed their belongings, Anna asks “Did you get Jacob and Angelina’s stuff?” Carl and Bailey says “Yup!” Anna asks “Food too?” Isabella says “I got all the food we need!” Anna says “And weapons?” Carl and Ally says “All here!” Anna says “Okay, time to do this!” Isabella says “Wait, we’re not going to get changed?” Valeria says “No point. It’s not like anyone cares how we’re dressed in the apocalypse. Pajamas are just fine!” Anna jumps into the driver’s seat and says “Buckle up! It’s gonna be a bit rough.” she turns the key and starts the engine. It feels different from a regular car. Anna pushes her foot on the acceleration pedal and drives. Carl says “Wait! I didn’t open the gate!” she rams through the gate and smashes it open. Angelina says “Wow, I knew they had a plan but I didn’t think it was that.” Jacob says “Finally! It’s so cramped up here!” Anna runs over the zombies in the way. Valeria says “Damn, this hummer is strong as hell! Way smoother and stronger than a bus.” Carl says “Hey! I saw a machine gun on top of the roof. Can I open the hatch and use it?” Anna was hesitant at first but she let go and told him “Do it.” Carl opened the roof hatch and stood up in the hummer. He pointed the gun at the zombies surrounding the truck and opened fire. He took them all down. Jacob said “Holy shit!” Angelina says “We have a kid here, watch your language.” Jacob said “Oh, I forgot. Oh man!” he grumbled.

Anna stops the hummer by the truck. Jacob jumped down from the truck. Angelina gave him the child to put down onto the ground. Angelina then jumped down from the truck afterwards. Anna gets out of the military hummer and she says to Angelina “Yup, driving definitely isn’t for me.” she gives Angelina the key, Angelina laughs at her and takes the key. Angelina notices the things are packed and says “We’re leaving?” Bailey says “Yeah, no point going back, Right?” Angelina agrees saying “Yeah, let’s move on. Even though it’s late.” Jacob says “Are we really going now? We haven’t even talked about this!” Angelina says “Yeah whatever, Jacob. Let’s go!” Jacob mumbles to himself. Jacob, Angelina, and the child all get inside the hummer. They drive off to go somewhere else. Ally says to the kid “Hey, I’m glad you’re safe.” the kid stays silent. Ally asks “What’s your name?” the kid says “Molly.”.


	8. Unexpected Encounter

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: Sexual harassment happens in this chapter. Read at your own risk.

Last night the crew left Ashley’s Villa to find a better place along with hopes of finding other survivors. However, leaving the Villa left a bad taste in Jacob’s mouth. He was uncomfortable with the decision, and it didn’t help that he was left with no choice but to go with it. Bailey may have been right about leaving the villa sooner or later would make no difference but Jacob cared more about safety than finding others. He feared what could happen next and whether the crew has made a good decision or a big mistake.

It’s been 4 days since the outbreak happened. The crew hasn’t found their friends or families yet, much less any signs of life out in the apocalypse besides a poor child that has lost her family. Now that a little child is the new addition to the group, decision making might be more difficult because they’ll have to consider her health and safety in situations.

When they left the Villa last night Angelina still wasn’t in top condition to be doing a night drive and everyone else was sleepy as well. They all decided that maybe they should park up somewhere to sleep the rest of the night and get a head start in the morning. They parked the military hummer by a river for some reason. It really wasn’t the brightest idea considering the undead could’ve easily found them out in the open. Perhaps it’s hard to think clearly when your head is still clouded with sleep. Everyone inside the hummer was sleeping, although it’s a little cramped inside.

Ally was the first to wake up. She opens her eyes but her eyes were cloudy. She wiped her eyes and yawns quietly. She opens her eyes again and sees that everyone is sleeping. Before going to bed the crew had lowered the seats down in the hummer so they could lay down and sleep. Ally’s back felt a bit stiff and uncomfortable due to sleeping in a crowded area with others. Molly was sleeping close to Ally, she seems really comfortable being close to her. Ally thought it was cute. Isabella and Anna were face to face while sleeping close to each other. Valeria was sleeping at the edge in a curled up position. Angelina was sleeping with her arms spread out, her left arm was laying across Carl’s face. Bailey was sleeping with her head on Jacob’s lap. Ally just sat there for a moment and stares at the messy cramped position everyone was sleeping in.

After laughing inside her own head for a moment she says “Wakey wakey guys! It’s early morning.” Anna opens her eyes, she quickly wipes them and sits up. Bailey was too stubborn to wake up, she sank her head deeper into Jacob’s lap and grabs a hold of his thigh like she’s grabbing a pillow. Carl suffocates as he realizes someone’s arm is over his face, he says in a muffled voice “Get off me!!!” while trying to get her arm off of his face. Angelina wakes up, she looks to her left and notices her arm is right across his face. She lifts her arm away while saying “Oh, oops.” Carl gasps for some air. Jacob also wakes up and notices Bailey is resting in his lap, he gets flustered. Jacob says “Umm, Bailey?” Bailey groans a bit and says “Just... let me sleep.” Jacob says “Bailey!” Bailey wakes up and says “What?” she looks up and sees Jacob, and then she realizes that she’s resting on his lap. She gets up quickly and looks around, almost everyone was already awake. She gets embarrassed and wonders if anyone had noticed. Valeria and Isabella get woken up shortly after. Ally gently nudges Molly to wake up, Molly opens her big eyes and looks up at Ally. Ally says “It’s time to wake up” she gives her a little smile.

The crew step out of the hummer for some fresh air, they stretch their arms and legs a bit after sleeping in the cramped hummer. They also realize they’re still wearing their night clothes/pajamas. Anna looks at where the hummer is parked and says “Did we really decide to park here?” Angelina shrugs and says “We were tired as hell. I think sleep was the only thing on our mind.” Bailey says “We should go change.” Angelina says “Yeah.” Bailey turns around and looks at Jacob and Carl. Jacob says “Alright alright! No need for the death stare, you could’ve just asked.” Jacob grabs Carl by the collar and drags him into the woods, Carl says “Hey, where are we going??”.

After Jacob has dragged Carl away some distance Carl asks again “Dude???” Jacob says “We need to give them personal space.” Carl says “How comes?” Jacob says “They’re going to change clothes, dumbass! I don’t think they’d want us around.” Carl says “Oh. Then why didn’t they just ask?” Jacob says “I dunno, ask Bailey.”.

The girls take off the clothes they found from Ashley’s wardrobe and change back into their own. It was nice and clean after Anna did the laundry a couple days ago. Angelina says “Ah, it’s good to be back in our own stuff again.” Anna says “Agreed.”. While dressing Ally realized there is no clean clothes that fits Molly. Ally says “We don’t have any clothes that fit Molly.” Valeria says “Maybe we can scavenge some kids clothes for her.” Angelina says “Yeah, we’ll have plenty of time today to find her some.” she continues “It feels good being out here now that we have weapons. I didn’t feel like I had this kind of protection before.” Bailey says “Yeah, and we can freely talk about scavenging without worrying about safety.” Anna says “We should still stay alert though. We may have weapons to fight with now but we’re still at risk of getting jumped by zombies or bumping into hoards.” Angelina says “Or the wrong people.” Anna says “What do you mean?” Angelina says “We’re in the apocalypse, remember. People are desperate now. It wouldn’t surprise me if people tried to jump us for our supplies.” Anna says “Hmm, you do have a point.” Isabella asks “But why will people try to jump us? We’re survivors just like them so we should stay together, not fight each other for things!” Angelina says “Like I said you’d be surprised where desperation can take you. We should stay together and be alert at all times.”. After the girls get dressed Bailey yells “Alright! You can come out now!” Jacob and Carl comes out from the woods, it looks like they got changed while they were waiting for the girls. Anna says “Right, what should we do now? Scavenge?” Valeria says “I wanna eat breakfast first. Don’t think I can dig for stuff on an empty stomach.” Angelina says “Same, let’s get something to eat.”. They decided to get breakfast before going on their search mission.

The group traveled on the outskirts of Carsona to find a place where they can eat breakfast. They spot another 24h supermarket and go in for some snacks. The supermarket wasn’t as damaged as the last place but they could tell people definitely looted the store as they noticed products were either eaten out, empty, or missing from the shelves. Angelina tried getting a sandwich from the fridge but the sandwiches in the fridge were stale and spoiled. As time goes on whatever food is left in stores will eventually expire. If the crew doesn’t find a place to settle down before that happens, finding edible food will be a lot harder and their food supply will become scarce.

The crew settled with packaged snacks and drinks instead. After filling their stomachs Anna went behind the cashier counter and grabbed a map. She brings the map to the others and discusses what area they want to begin scavenging in. On the map there seems to be a mall in an area near Carsona, it’s about a 20 minute drive from where they’re currently at. Anna tells the others that since it’s a mall she doesn’t doubt that most of it has been looted already. Ally still suggests that they should go especially since they find a good chance of finding valuable stuff for Molly. After a short discussion they mark their next stop and travel to a small city called St. Luvil.

About 20 minutes later they arrived in the small city of St. Luvil. For some odd reason this city doesn’t seem to be in a bad condition as the other bigger cities. It still looks a mess with stray zombies roaming around, some debris on the street, and some damaged cars. Just a few minutes more passed by and they finally arrived at the mall. The parking lot was empty and the mall doesn’t seem like it’s been looted. Still, the crew got out of the hummer to go and check if the mall has anything they need. As they make their way to the entrance the doors are locked. Angelina says “So that’s why this place looked untouched. They were closed!” Bailey says “Or maybe they closed up shop when the outbreak happened.” Valeria says “There’s gotta be another way we can get in. We need food!” Ally says “And other supplies!” Angelina says “Let’s split up and find a way in?” Anna says “Sure.” Anna, Isabella, and Valeria go to the right to see if there is a way to get in while Jacob, Bailey, and Carl take the left. Angelina decided to stay by the entrance, she kneels down by the wall where the keypad is and looks for a way to open it. Ally asks “What are you doing?” Angelina says “Seeing if I can find a way to open these doors without needing to go through the back.” Ally says “It looks like they’re controlled with a passcode or keycard. I don’t think you’ll be able to get in unless we jam the door open with a crowbar or somet-“ Angelina gets up and says “THAT’S IT!” she runs over to the hummer to grab something. Molly and Ally look at each other in confusion, Ally shrugs.

One day you’re living your best life as a teacher with a house, a car, a good paying job, and a reputation that you somehow deluded yourself about having, and the next day you’re found stuck on a bus with a bunch of kids you don’t know how to manage. That’s Richard’s life in a nutshell. Richard always thought he knew how to handle even the most complicated situations, but at this point you could tell he was losing it, losing it to the extent that he couldn’t even convince himself anymore. The moment the crew left Richard and his students Richard thought to himself that he can survive without them. But then he realized that he had no idea how to drive a bus... how do you know how to survive this situation without knowing how to drive the bus? Somehow Richard knows how, at least he’s delusional enough to believe he knows. After thinking for at least 5 hours how to fix his nonexistent driver situation he came up with an idea that he deemed brilliant. That idea was getting one of his students to drive the bus.

Nevermind the fact that this student is just a minor with no skills about driving or having a driver’s license. You can’t break the law in the apocalypse. The kid was nervous at first about driving for his first time. He struggled getting the bus to start. Once he finally got the bus to start he kept accelerating too fast, then he kept breaking abruptly while bumping into several hundred vehicles parked at the side. At this point Richard had a massive headache. After the kid struggled and continuously damaged the bus for the past couple days he somehow got better at driving the bus, he still took unnecessary rough and sharp corners while breaking abruptly sometimes but it got better enough for Richard to tolerate.

After driving around in circles and being clueless where to go the fuel gauge started to flash red, the fuel was running out again. This would be the 7th time now that they needed to refill. Richard says “Oh fuck sake. AGAIN?” the kid says “Yes teacher, we need to refill!” Richard says “I swear if you didn’t crash this fucking bus 10 million times already the fuel wouldn’t be running out this fast. You probably fucked up the gas tank!” the kid replies “Sorry teacher! I’m only 15, I haven’t been to driving school-” Richard says “Yeah yeah, you told me this like 20 fucking times already.” one of the other students at the back says “Mr Richard? You seem really angry today-” Richard says “Yes, I am FUCKING ANGRY! I am stuck with a bunch of USELESS KIDS that can’t do ANYTHING!” the student flinches as he yelled at her. Richard kicks one of the bus seats, his foot hits something hard underneath and gets hurt. Richard says “Ow ow ow! Fuck!!!” the kid says “Richard should we return back to the gas station?” Richard says “Yes, whatever.”. The kid takes a turn for the gas station however this time his turn was too rough, he hits the bus into another parked up car at the side. The students on the bus screamed, Richard falls over and hits his foot again. The bus engine shuts off shortly after the little crash. The kid tried to start the bus again but it was no use.

Richard yells at the kid “START THE GODDAMN BUS, YOU STUPID SHIT!” the kid says “I can’t!!! It completely ran out!!” Richard says “Great... GREAT!” he gets up off the ground while limping and throws himself down onto a seat. He starts slamming his head against another seat repeatedly. The students on the bus were scared. They’re afraid of his sudden change of behavior. Richard always seemed like a confident and calm teacher to them, but now you can tell he is totally losing it. After his short mental breakdown he sighs and gets up from his seat. He grabs a jerry-can and steps up to the kid in the driver’s seat, he tells the kid “You know this will be the 3rd time I had to go and fetch gas by MYSELF, right?” the kid nods. Richard says “This will be the last time I will say this.” Richard grabs the kid by his hair and yells into his face saying “NEXT TIME, KEEP YOUR EYE ON THE FUCKING FUEL GAUGE! If this SHIT runs out again before we reach the gas station I will throw you off the fucking bus and feed you to the zombies, UNDERSTAND?” the kid starts crying and nodding quickly saying “Yes sir! Please don’t hurt me!” Richard shoves his head while letting go of his hair. He fixes his dirty rough necktie and steps off the bus.

Richard limps his way down the street with the jerry-can in his hand. He constantly curses inside of his head. Asking himself why does this have to happen to him out of all people. He thinks about why he hasn’t given up yet, but he knows it’s not in his nature to give up. After moving a mile on foot he finally reaches a nearby gas station. While he was filling the can the fuel stopped coming out of the fuel pump, it was empty. Richard says “Shit! Only half way full...” he slams the cap back onto the jerry-can and grumpily shuffles off back to the bus. While he was on his way back to the bus he spots a mall just down the road. He says to himself “How comes I’ve never noticed this before?” Richard limps down the road to get a closer view of the mall.

As he got closer he started to smile. He thought about all the supplies he could get there, or how he could settle down and finally not be on a run anymore. Then Richard’s smile started to drop as he noticed 3 people walking alongside the side of the mall. It was Jacob, Bailey and Carl. He also notices Angelina and Ally are standing by the closed off entrance with what appears to be a small child with them. Richard’s blood starts to boil. He says to himself “Those... fucking... CUNTS!” he drops his jerry-can to the ground “Selfish piece of shits! Eating all the food and stealing all the supplies they can find while leaving me to rot in shit...” Richard looks at Angelina rushing to grab something from the hummer. He says “They have a hummer too?!?” Richard explodes with rage. Richard just stands there and stares at them while cursing to himself, they don’t notice his presence at all. Richard watches Jacob, Bailey and Carl return to the mall entrance. Richard says “Look at that little shit Jacob...” he notices Carl eating a bag of chips and says “And that fat cunt stuffing his face!” he continues “They got a little rat to add to their squad too.” referring to Molly. He says “Look at them, staying together and smiling... like they’re a whole big happy family... Bleh. I want to throw up.”. The group finally found a way to break through the entrance door to get in. Richard couldn’t take watching them anymore so he picks up the jerry-can and returns to the bus.

The students notice Richard and kindly say to him “Welcome back, Richard!” Richard completely ignores them. Richard usually enjoys being welcomed and praised but now those things have become annoying to him, he feels like he’s surrounded by leeches. He angrily opens the cover of the gas tank and shoves the fuel inside. After he is finished he slaps the cover back on and goes inside the bus. Richard tells the kid “Start it.” the kid replies “Okay, teacher.” he hotwires the bus several times and the bus finally starts up again. His foot accidentally pressed onto the acceleration pedal and he rams into the car a little bit. Richard takes a deep breath and tries to maintain what little composure he has left. As the kid was about to take the same turn he took several times already Richard butts in and says “Turn right!” the kid asks “Where are we going Mr. Ric-“ Richard yells at him and says “I SAID TURN RIGHT!” the kid trembles and quickly takes a turn to the right. Richard had no idea where he was going but all he knew was that he wanted to go anywhere else but driving in circles.

Angelina brought a crowbar and a hammer she got from the hummer. She smashes the padlock off the door with the hammer. She then gets a grip of the roller door with a crowbar. The alarm went off but it was early in the morning with little to no zombies around, they didn’t attract any attention. When she got the roller door half open with the crowbar Angelina tried to pull it up but it was too stiff. Ally tried joining in to help her but no use. Jacob, Bailey, and Carl came back from around the side of the mall after finding no way to get in. Angelina asks if they could lend her a hand in bringing the roller door up. They all grabbed a hold of it and pushed it up with all their force. The crew finally managed to get the roller doors up. Anna, Isabella, and Valeria came back. Anna says “Hey you did it!”. It wasn’t easy since they don’t have a keycard or passcode to get in but with enough teamwork and strength it paid off.

The group enters the mall. Angelina comments “Some of it looks like it’s been looted already.” Bailey says “Probably from the Staff themselves.” Valeria glances across a shop and sees a zombie locked inside, she says “Look, there!” Ally says “Ooof man, we’ll need to get in there too.” Carl asks “Why?” Ally says “Because it’s a kids shop. We need to get Molly new clothes, remember?” Ally pulls the bag strap off her shoulder and places the bag onto the ground, she unzips the bag. Ally says “Can one of you take Molly away? I don’t think she should be seeing this.” Jacob says “I think she’s seen it all already.” Ally says “And she doesn’t need to see anymore, not now.” Anna says “It’s okay, I’ll take her. Let’s go, Molly!” Anna takes Molly by her hand and wonders around the rest of the mall. When Molly was gone far enough Ally pulls out her trusty katana. Valeria says “Yeah! Chop ‘em!” Ally says “The doors are locked though.” Angelina says “I’ll handle that.” Angelina throws her crowbar at the glass window, the alarms go off again and the window is shattered open. The zombie shoves itself out of the broken glass and walks towards Ally. Ally cuts it open with a clean slice. After she takes down the zombie she walks into the shop to check if the coast is clear. Ally says “You guys can bring back Molly now, it’s safe.”.

While Ally was taking down the zombie Bailey nudges Jacob, Jacob asks “What is it?” Bailey asks “Do you wanna take a stroll around the mall?” Jacob says “Isn’t that what we’re already about to do?” Bailey rolls her eyes and says “I meant you and me.” Jacob just realized what she meant and felt dumb needing her clarify what she meant. Jacob says “Oh, Sure.”. Valeria says “I’m gonna check to see if the supermarket has Cheetos!” Valeria runs and zooms past Bailey and Jacob, Jacob looks at her running and gives her an annoyed glance. Anna and Molly find the supermarket, the doors were locked as usual. Anna asks Molly “Do you want to go shopping for things you like?” Molly nods. Isabella runs towards Anna and says “Hey! Ally told me the shop is clear. You can bring Molly back!” Anna says to Molly “Hey let’s get you some clothes first, okay?” Molly says “Okay.” Anna brings Molly back to the kids store, Isabella follows behind with them.

Jacob and Bailey pass by a jewel shop as they were strolling around the mall. A pretty diamond necklace caught Bailey’s eye, she walks up to the glass window and stares at it. Jacob asks her “Do you want me to get it for you?” Bailey raises an eyebrow at Jacob and says “I can get it myself you know.” Jacob says “I know. I was just asking... if you’d like me to.” Bailey thinks for a moment. Ever since Jacob had confessed to Bailey things have never been the same. Bailey would always feel embarrassed or flustered if she ever gets in an awkward situation with Jacob. And it doesn’t help knowing that he has feelings for her. Bailey says “You could I guess.”. She didn’t see the harm in letting him get it. Jacob gets a stool that was lying on the ground and throws it into the jewel shop’s window. Once again the alarm went off but that didn’t really matter. Jacob takes the necklace laying inside the glass case. He walks up to Bailey with it, Bailey reaches for it with her hand. Jacob pulls back away from her a little bit and asks her “Do... you want me to put it on for you?” Bailey reacted like “...” Jacob says “You don’t have to if you do-“ Bailey says “Alright.” and turns around. She didn’t want the situation to be any more awkward than it already was. Jacob unhooks the necklace and places it over her head, the necklace rests around her neck with the diamond dangling from the center laying on her chest. Jacob hooks the necklace back together and says “It’s on now.” Bailey looks at it from the reflection of another shop’s window. She fiddles with the diamond a little bit and says “Pretty.” Jacob stares at her through the window’s reflection and says “Yeah... you are.” Bailey turns around and raises her eyebrow at him. He quickly says “I meant the necklace!” he rubs the back of his head just realizing what he just said, he made things awkward. Bailey says “Anyway, there’s an upstairs so let’s check that.” Jacob and Bailey go upstairs to see the rest of the mall.

Ally and Molly dig for some clothes in the kids store. Ally already picked out a lot of nice clothes for her to wear. While she was digging for clothes Molly asks Ally “When can I see Mommy and Daddy again?” Ally turns around and looks at her, she doesn’t know what to say. Molly says “I miss them!” she pouts and frowns. Ally says “Molly...” Molly says “Is Daddy gone? Did those creepy people take him away? What about Mommy?” tears begin to form in her eyes. Ally wasn’t sure if she should lie to stop her from crying or tell her the truth so that she doesn’t ask anymore. But is it even okay to tell a child at her age that her parents are dead? Anna walks in from behind and says “Don’t worry, Molly! You can see them one day, okay?” Anna kneels down and hugs Molly, Anna looks at Ally and gives a little frown while she’s hugging Molly. Ally could tell that Anna really didn’t want to lie to her, however it’s understandable why she would lie.

Angelina, Valeria, and Carl break into the supermarket. Valeria grabs a trolley, she stands on the back of it and leans forward to make it go faster, Valeria says “WEEEEE!” Angelina says “Don’t crash into anything!” Valeria says “Don’t worry I got it-“ Valeria loses control and crashes into cans of sodas. Angelina bursts out laughing. She says “I did warn you.”. Isabella wonders around the shop looking for something. Valeria gets back up and pulls the trolley out of the soda can pile. Valeria grabs many cans of soda and starts looking around the rest of the shop for things.

Bailey and Jacob roam the upstairs of the mall. There wasn’t much up there besides some book stores and other things they don’t really consider relevant. They pass by a shop that sells vintage clothes. Bailey always had a taste for vintage clothing. A vintage black polka dot halterneck dress caught her attention. Jacob asks “Do you want that too?” Bailey says “Can you stop? I literally can’t look at anything without you asking me if I want it. Stop treating this like we’re on a date!” Jacob says “I’m sorry! I was just genuinely asking...” Bailey says “Yes but you’re making this so awkward!” Jacob says “Then why did you want us to go alone if you’ll just feel awkward with me?” Bailey says “Because I wanted to spend time with the one person here that was in the same class as me and actually spoke to me back in highschool. Although Valeria, Carl and Ally are from the same school I can’t relate to them the same way. Maybe I was wrong thinking that I can relate to you better...” she continues “Look, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to come off harsh. You’re just making me frustrated right now.” Jacob says “It’s okay, I’ll stop asking if it makes you feel better.” Jacob walks off to check the last few stores. Bailey says “Wait!” Jacob turns around and looks at her. Bailey asks “Aren’t you gonna get that dress?” Jacob was about to argue why she would even tell him to stop when she wanted it anyway but he doesn’t bother.

Jacob breaks into the vintage store and gets the dress for her. He gives her the dress, she stares at the dress while paying close attention to its details. Jacob says “You know, if this was a real date and the apocalypse didn’t happen I wouldn’t be able to afford all this...” Bailey says “Why? Because you’re broke?” she smirks. Jacob says “I’m just a student...” Bailey tells him “I’m just teasing you, relax.” Jacob asks her “Are you gonna try it on?” Bailey says “No.” Jacob asks “Why not? There are dressing rooms at the back and you’re free to do so. You could even try it on to see if it fits.” Bailey asks “You saying I should try it on because I might be too fat to fit in it?” Jacob says “What? No! You’re not fat at all!” Bailey says “I’m kidding! You take jokes too seriously these days. Anyway, I’ll try it on then.” Bailey takes a few moments to get the dress on. She steps out of the dressing room and asks Jacob “What do you think?” Jacob stares at her with his jaw dropped. Bailey says “This is why I didn’t want to put it on...” Jacob says “Sorry. You look nice with it!” Bailey says “Mhm.” Jacob suggests to her “Maybe letting your hair loose will make it look even better?” Bailey looks into the mirror to look at her outfit. She pulls out her ponytail and lets her hair loose. Bailey says “Ehh, I guess you’re right. Now I just need a matching hat and some shoes.” Bailey picks out a black vintage hat and a black pair of heels to go with her outfit. Bailey says “Tadaa!” and spins around the room. She stares into the mirror with her finished complete look and smiles. While looking into the mirror she realized that she just practically went shopping with Jacob and had him get clothes and accessories for her like a boyfriend would. She started to feel awkward again. Jacob says “You know... the necklace you’re wearing actually costs 50,000 dollars.” Bailey says “Really?” He replies “Yeah, it must be a really expensive stone for it to have that price tag.” Bailey says “...Yeah. We should get going now.”.

As she was about to walk into the dressing room he asks her “Wait, you’re not going to wear your outfit?” Bailey says “I’m not comfortable wearing it around.” Jacob says “But you look great in it!” Bailey says “So am I supposed to wear it just because you think I look ‘great’ in it? I’m not your girlfriend, Jacob.” Jacob says “I didn’t mean it in that way. I don’t know why you’re assuming things about me.” Bailey says “What do you mean I’m assuming things? I haven’t even said anything!” Jacob says “Bailey, just cut it. Your actions say it all. Anytime I make a nice gesture you’re always giving me the suspicious stare thinking I’m trying to make a move on you or something.” Bailey says “I think it’s just you thinking that.” Jacob says “Is that so? ‘I’m not your girlfriend, Jacob.’?” Bailey says “I’m just reminding you because you’re acting too nice for my liking. This isn’t the Jacob I knew back at Middlefort.” Jacob says “Well maybe that Jacob changed after the apocalypse happened, maybe that Jacob changed after shit happened to make him change, maybe that Jacob... died. Ever thought about that?” Jacob walks away to head downstairs, Bailey sighs.

The group meets up with each other at the supermarket after exploring the mall and gathering all the things they need. They have gathered lots of food and necessary supplies to hold them for a while. Ally says “I got everything we need” Angelina says “Same.” Bailey comes in with her vintage outfit, looks like she decided not to change. Everyone in the room complements how nice and classy she looks, Bailey thanks them. Jacob was kind of surprised she didn’t change her outfit, he wonders what had changed her mind. Valeria walks in with a giant tv and some other things inside her trolley. Angelina says “Val what the... You can’t bring that with us!” Valeria says “Why not?” Angelina says “We should only bring the necessary supplies we need. We can’t eat tv’s now can we?” Valeria says “But it’s HUGE! We can play video games on this with a large screen.” Angelina says “There are plenty of houses with tv’s in it. We might even find a house that had a rich owner that has one. It’s not worth sacrificing what space we have left in the trunk.” Valeria says “Aww, man.” and returns the items back where she found them. Anna says “Okay, shall we wrap up and get these supplies to a safe spot?” Angelina says “Okay, where to? We need to find a really safe place to stay at for a day, something like Ashley’s home.” Ally says “Well I see a few places on the map we can check out, should we explore this small city?” Angelina says “Definitely! I just hope we can find a house that isn’t destroyed and is secure.”. They move on to explore the area.

Richard and his students have found their way into a new area. It didn’t have many building structures around. It is mostly filled with nature and broken down shacks. The kid driving the bus asks Richard “Teacher, where are we going?” Richard says “I don’t know.” another student says “You don’t know? What’s going to happen to us???” another says “Yeah, we need to eat something! We’re going to starve!!!” the students on the bus go into a panic. Richard says “QUIET DOWN! SHUT UP!!” everyone on the bus goes silent. Richard says “You dimwits need to learn how to not panic. Now I don’t know where we’re going but-“ Richard notices a large building structure in the distance. As the bus got closer Richard saw that it was a warehouse. Richard tells the kid “Go to that big building over there!” the kid asks “Why? What’s-“ Richard says “Shut up and go!” the kid keeps silent and follows Richard’s order.

They park the bus onto the open field of the warehouse. A student asks “Richard! What are we doing here? Why did we stop?” Richard says “I figured you’re all too dense to know what this building is.” the student asks “What is it?” Richard says “A warehouse of course! A warehouse is a building where food and other supplies are stored. Now we don’t have to go hungry anymore!” the students on the bus cheer for this discovery. Richard boasts with ego saying “This is why you kids need me. If I weren’t here you’d all be dead by now! Heh, imagine not knowing what a warehouse is. What a shame.”. Richard claps his hands and says “Okay! I’m going to need some of you kids to come with me. We need to load some stuff onto the bus!” Richard points at 3 students he wants to take with him, the boy driving the bus and 2 other boy students. The rest of the students who were girls stayed on the bus. Richard and the 3 students step off the bus and approach the warehouse entrance. The door was closed but it wasn’t locked, Richard smiles and happily opens the door.

As Richard opens the warehouse doors wide to bring some light inside the warehouse was full. Multiple shelves lined up in a row were stored with boxes. Richard says “Yes... YES! OH MY GOODNESS FOOD HEAVEN!!!” Richard runs into the warehouse with his arms spread out like a child. He laughs like a maniac. As he ran inside he trips onto a wire and triggers something. A giant popping sound can be heard from outside. The students on the bus jump and scream from the loud sound. Richard and his students in the warehouse also jump in fear from the loud noise. One of the students says “Mr. Richard, what was that?” Richard says “Humph, Ignore it! It’s probably a stupid prank to try and scare us from getting the supplies.” Richard points at one of the kids and says “You! Fetch that box over there and bring it to me.” the kid reaches for the box Richard has pointed at, he struggles to get it due to it being too high on the shelf. The kid asks one of the other kids that is taller to help him but that kid is also out of reach. The taller kid gets the other kid to climb on his shoulders and grab the box. The kid carrying the other couldn’t carry him anymore because he felt weak, they both fall down. Richard says “Ugh, you’re all USELESS!”. The kids get up and swap positions to attempt a second time at obtaining the box, the box was awfully heavy. They struggled to even get the box down but they succeeded. The student brings the box to Richard. Richard could’ve gotten the box by himself easily due to the advantage of his height, but instead he gets his own students who are all shorter than him to get it instead. Richard kneels down to the floor and breaks into the box to see what food is inside. It was a box of sand. Richard says “...What... WHAT?!??” a student asks “What is it, Teacher?” Richard yells and said “THERE’S NOTHING INSIDE! GET ME ANOTHER BOX!” the student asks “What do you mea-“ Richard yells “NOW!” the kid runs to another box, picks it up, and brings it back to Richard. Richard tears into the box and finds a bunch of stones inside. Richard’s blood boils, he rages again.

While the female students wait on the bus they all gossiped amongst each other. While they were gossiping, hoards of zombies came out of the bushes. They were attracted to the loud popping sound from earlier. The girls on the bus haven’t noticed yet. A zombie walks by the bus but none of the girls see it. When they started laughing at what one of the girls said the zombie turns direction towards the bus and starts to claw at the bus. The zombie caught the girls off guard, they started screaming in fear. One of the students yells “THE DOOR!!! IT’S OPEN!!!!” another student yells “CLOSE IT! QUICKLY!!! CLOSE IT!!” one of them run to the front of the bus and quickly close it, as she closes it a zombie tried to get inside the bus. The door closes and the zombie’s arm gets caught between the doors. The girl holds the handle in place, trying to force the bus door to shut. Eventually the door clamps down on the zombie’s arm and disconnects its arm from its body. The arm falls to the ground. The girl screams.

Richard goes insane and rips through boxes only to find sand and stones. Richard yells “FUCK! GODDAMN MOTHERFUCKING HELL! FUCK YOU! FUCK EVERYTHING!” the students are scared and shocked, they stand there in silence watching Richard have a mental breakdown. While Richard was ripping through the boxes he saw huge writing on the wall at the back of the warehouse. The writing says “Haha losers! You thought you could steal our food and get away with it? Get fucked!!!” Richard stares at the writing and grits his teeth. He digs his nails into his skin, making himself bleed a little. One of Richard’s students calls out his name but he doesn’t answer, the student said “Uh... Mr. Richard? Mr. Richard?? Teacher??? RICHARD????” Richard yells “WHAT?!?!?” the student yells “ZOMBIES!!!” Richard’s eyes widen.

Richard and his students ran outside, they see hoards of zombies approaching towards the bus. Richard and the students try to run to the bus and get in but it was too late. The bus was already covered with them, making the bus inaccessible. The hoard approaches Richard and his students. They run back to the warehouse screaming. As they got back inside the warehouse Richard yells “CLOSE IT! CLOSE THE FUCKING DOOR!!!” the 3 students attempt to close the doors. The zombies try to push their way in, making it harder for the kids to push the doors and close them. The zombies were too many and they finally push their way into the warehouse. Richard and the students scream in fear and run back. They back themselves away slowly as the hoard pushes further, there was no way out, they were blocked off by the hoard. The hoard continuously pushes towards them. Richard backs up further and hides behind his students, as he was backing away he hits the back of the wall and stumbles onto something on the floor.

He lifts the cloth covering whatever it was he stumbled upon. It was an underground hatch. Richard looks down at it and gasps, he then looks up and see that the hoard is getting closer. Richard quickly opens up the hatch and gets down onto the ladder. He looks up and sees the students backing away from the zombies still. Richard thinks to himself that the students were pretty useless anyway and that he didn’t need them. Richard pulls the cloth over the top of the hatch and closes the hatch, leaving without their knowledge of the hatch even existing. The students yell “RICHARD, WHAT ARE WE GOING TO DO?” the students turn around, one of them says “Richard??” as they looked Richard was nowhere to be seen. All corners were blocked off by hoards. They close in on the students and dive onto them, eating them alive. The students scream until their last breath. Richard hears the screams of the students as he goes down the ladder, but he felt no way about leaving them.

Richard gets down to the end of the ladder and reaches the ground. It looks to be a tunnel but it was too dark to see anything. Richard didn’t care about not being able to see anything. He runs down the tunnel, hoping he can see a light or something at the end. Richard ran until he crashed into something. It felt like a wall but it was actually a door. Richard opens the door and runs inside, he closes the door behind him. Richard finds himself inside an underground bunker. He sighs in relief and quickly searches for something to eat or drink. Richard sees half a bottle of water, he quickly grabs it and guzzles down the rest. Richard then felt something sharp poking on his back. Richard heard a voice, the voice said “Turn around, slowly.” Richard’s heart beats fast. He slowly turns around and sees who it is behind him. It was an elderly man wearing overalls. The old man was pointing a knife at Richard. The old man asks “Who are you and what are you doing in my bunker?” Richard coughs a little and tries to gain his voice, he says “My... My name is Richard. I was an art teacher at Middlefort Highschool. Please, don’t hurt me!” the old man asks “Were you sent by them?” Richard asks “By whom?” the old man replies “Don’t play dumb with me. I’m talking about them dirt rag wearing thieves!” Richard says “No. I wasn’t sent by thieves or anybody! I came here on a bus with students on it, we were looking for food and supplies because we were hungry and starving!” the old man says “You came here on a bus full of students?” the old man continues “Shit! Did you trigger the air explosive?” Richard asks “Air explosive?” the old man says “Yeah. It’s something I’ve set up for the dirt rags to be caught by zombies. Just in case they try to steal my stock again.” Richard says “So that’s what the wire was there for.” the old man says “Did you trip on it?” Richard says “...Yes.” the old man says “Goddamn it...” he then asks “Did the zombies come? Did anyone get hurt?” Richard freezes for a moment. He wasn’t sure how to answer since he practically had 3 students murdered by leaving them. Richard lies and says “Yes and No, luckily no one got hurt.” the old man says “Thank god. But what about your students? Where are they?” Richard tells him “They’re stuck inside the bus on the surface.” the old man says “Then we gotta help those kids.” Richard says “How? Zombies have already got inside the warehouse and the bus is surrounded with them. It’s no use.” the old man tells him “I have a way to help those kids. Come with me.” Richard asks “Where are we going?” the old man says “We’re traveling from my second tunnel. It’s a bit of a walk away but once we get to the surface we’ll go back to the warehouse and save those kids.” the old man moves some boxes away and reveals a second door. He opens the door but Richard just stands there. The old man says to Richard “Come on scruffy teacher, those kids can’t save themselves.”. The old man grabs a couple supplies and walks through the door, Richard follows behind him.

Richard and the old man travel through the underground tunnel. It was still dark down there but the old man had a torch with him so they could see. Richard says to the old man “You haven’t told me your name.” the old man says “Oh haha. My bad, I got distracted by the whole warehouse business. My name is Alberto.” Richard says “Ah. So, Alberto... is that your warehouse? You told me earlier you had set up the trap so that thieves don’t steal your supplies.” Alberto replies “That warehouse? Mine? Nah. I was just a janitor, my job was to keep the warehouse clean.” Richard asks “So why did you refer to the supplies as ‘my stock’ when you told me that thieves bothered you?” Alberto replies “Because when zombies became a thing we lost a lot of workers. We couldn’t go anywhere without running into them, so, the warehouse became a temporary home for us, and close colleagues became more like family to me.” Richard asks “And where are those colleagues?” Alberto says “Dead. When the dirt rags came to steal our stuff we were left with nothing. We were forced to scout for food, and every time we did we would lose a person or two. If they didn’t steal our things they wouldn’t have died. We had so much food to last for months!” Richard says “Oh, that’s a shame.” he says this in a blank tone.

He then asks “And the underground bunker? Was it always here? And if yes why didn’t you attempt to save the supplies?” Alberto replied “Oh no, the bunker wasn’t a thing back then.” he continues “When our colleagues kept dying after scouting for food the dirt rags would come back for more! So then we were forced to scout very often which caused us a lot of losses. Eventually we were down to 3 people, me and 2 others. We came up with the plan to build the underground bunker. Then one day I fell sick and we were running low on food, my 2 colleagues went out to scout to find food and medicine. And then I never heard of them again.” Richard asks “Was it the ‘dirt rags’ that killed your friends?” Alberto says “Nah, My colleagues were killed by the zombies.” Richard says “I see.” Alberto asks “Why don’t you tell me more about yourself, Richard? I’ve said enough about me.” Richard says “There isn’t much to say about myself really. I was a popular art teacher living my best life... but those days are over now.” Alberto pats Richard’s back and says “Aw cheer up man, life isn’t over yet! Have hope!” Richard says “I guess.” Alberto says “I guess there is one more thing I could say about myself. Before becoming a janitor at the warehouse I was actually a bus driver. You’re probably wondering how I jumped from a mediocre job to a low end job but-“ Richard’s eyes starts to glitter, he says “Wait! Did you say you were a bus driver???” Alberto says “Yes. And I thought my hearing was bad...” Richard says “You can still drive one, right? We’re desperately in need of a driver right now.” Alberto says “I haven’t driven one in ages and I’m pretty old now. But since children’s lives are at risk I will do my best!” Richard says “Yes! Thank you!” Alberto stops in his tracks and says “Well, we’re here now!” Richard and Alberto stop at a ladder that goes up to the surface. They both climb the ladder and open the hatch.

Richard gets up to the surface first. The tunnel led them inside a shop. Richard asks “You made a tunnel that leads to a shop?” Alberto says to him while climbing up the ladder “Yes. Dirt rags don’t normally check hardware stores so we thought it was good to lead it here.” Richard says “Clever.” Alberto tells Richard “Please wait for me for a moment, I need to grab some things.” Richard says “That’s fine.”. He walks to the window to grab some fresh air. While he was staring out of the broken window of the hardware store he heard an engine running. It was a car passing by on the road. Richard remains as hidden as he could and watches the road to see who it is. It was a military hummer. The crew past by without seeing Richard, Richard stares at them with anger. Alberto asks him “Who was that? I heard a car. Was it the dirt rags?” Richard didn’t want Alberto to know about the group. He lies to him and says “Yes it was. But they didn’t see me because I was somewhat hidden.” Alberto says “Good! Once those bastards see you they never stop harassing you.” Richard and Alberto leave the hardware store and step outside into the open. Alberto asks “Tell me which way they went.” Richard points and says “That way!” Richard notices a road sign at the side that says ‘Luvil Street’ Alberto says “Ah, makes sense.” Richard says “Huh, why?” Alberto says “Dirt rags roam that area all the time. You could practically call it dirt rag territory.” Richard says “Hmm, interesting.” Alberto says “I’m glad they went that way now, it means that there are less likely any dirt rags near the warehouse area.” Alberto flings a bag over his shoulder and says “Let’s go save them kids!”.

It’s nice traveling in a vehicle with a full tank and having some weapons on hand. You’re able to travel almost anywhere without worries of getting bitten. The crew travels around Luvil Street to see what they can find. While traveling they were talking to each other. Angelina asks “How old is Molly? I don’t remember her telling us.” Ally says “She told me she is 6.” Anna says “Wow, so young.” Angelina says “Hey! How comes she told you only?” Ally says “Because she likes me better.” she sticks her tongue out at Angelina. Angelina says “Yeah, sure. You only know because you’ve already asked her.” Ally says “Mmmm maybe... Maybe she told me by herself.” she smirks a little. While driving Molly recognizes a building, she says “I know this place!” Ally says “You do?” Molly says “Yeah! That’s my house!” she points to the building. It was a house just across the street. It had a balcony upstairs so you could see danger from afar. Angelina asks “Should we go there to seek shelter or?” Anna says “We can check to see if it’s secure or not.”. The crew decides to check the house. They approach the house and check to see if there were any zombies, it was clear. They open the door, the door was unlocked. They didn’t have time to lock the door after the outbreak. As they entered they see that the place is completely upside down. Tables and chairs flipped over, cabinets and shelves knocked over, and glass was broken. Molly checks the rooms and says “Mommy? Daddy?” Angelina says “I’m sorry sweetie but they’re not here!” Molly looks down to the ground. Anna says “We might be able to stay here, things are broken but we can make do with what we have for a day.” Jacob says “Man, Ashley’s house to this?” Bailey says “Oh please. Just be glad we’re not in danger.” Jacob says “Yeah I know...”.

Now that the crew decided to settle down in Molly’s home for the day the group cleans up around the house and unloads their supplies. Valeria was looking for Anna to ask her something. She walks into one of the bedrooms and says “Hey, Anna do you have any-“ she stops and she realized Anna wasn’t there but instead it was Jacob. Valeria says “Oh, sup Jacob.” Jacob says “Eh.” Valeria cracks a joke to him and says “The last time I’ve seen you this salty is when you lost a 2vs2 match on Fortnite.” Jacob sighs as he gets even more annoyed by her. Valeria asks “So what ya doing? Also you don’t happen to have any skittles on you, right?” Jacob says “Valeria, Listen. I’m not gonna bullshit with you anymore. I really don’t like you and would prefer if you don’t try to act funny around me. I’m only tolerating you because we’re forced to stay together.” Valeria says “That sounds like a ‘you’ problem.” Jacob says “What?” Valeria says “I said it’s your problem if you don’t like me, I don’t really care. Don’t get why you’re so salty towards me all of a sudden.” Jacob says “’All of a sudden?’ Valeria I never liked you even before the apocalypse. You always walked around like your shit doesn’t stink. I only tolerated you because of Matthew.” Valeria says “First of all, dude. No one asked you to tolerate me. Second of all, again that sounds like a ‘you’ problem if you thought that about me. And third of all, I don’t care.” Valeria turns around and walks out the room. Before she does Jacob says “Just like you didn’t care about Matthew’s feelings, right?” Valeria turns around towards him. Jacob says “That’s the problem with you Valeria, you don’t give a shit about anything. You always do and say things that would get people hurt. You don’t think before you act. You just do whatever you please until you realize it’s too late.” Valeria says “Well thanks for your unwanted opinion. Maybe if you stopped assuming shit about me you wouldn’t be salty about shit that isn’t true.” Valeria turns back around to walk out of the room, before going she says “Oh and I did consider Matthew’s feelings, he just told me too late.” she walks away.

Richard and Alberto finally make their way back to the warehouse. They were hiding behind a pile of scrap metal and other scraps piled together. The bus was still intact and the students were still alive. Richard says “Well darn it.” Alberto says “Don’t worry! I have just the distraction.” Alberto pulls out some firecrackers out of his bag. Richard says “Are you insane? You’re going to attract them to us!” Alberto says “No, dummy. I’m going to throw the firecrackers over there to get the zombies away from the bus. Then when they are far enough from the bus we make a run for it and get in.” Richard says “Oh.”. The students on the bus are crying. They fear that Richard is dead and that no one is coming to save them. Some of them contemplated on leaving the bus and just ending it all, but they were too afraid to die. Alberto gives the firecrackers to Richard, Richard asks “Why are you giving it to me?” Alberto says “I can’t throw as well as I used to. Do you think a 74 year old man can throw as good as a guy in his 20s? Nah.” Richard says “Okay... here goes nothing.” Alberto says “Wait! Practice throwing stones first, I wanna see how well you do.” Richard says “What if we attract attention?” Alberto says “You won’t because the stones will be landing in the middle of the field, unless your throw is too short and you end up making noise near us like an idiot.” Richard says “Okay.” Richard attempts his first throw, the stone doesn’t even reach the middle. Alberto says “What a weak ass throw. Work them chicken arms, boy! I could throw better than that when I was in my 50s.” Richard picks up another stone and throws it, it still doesn’t reach the middle of the field.” the stone catches a zombie’s attention.

Alberto says “Oh boy. You are really useless for a young man.” Richard yells “I’M TRYING!” Alberto says “Shhhh! Idiot! Are you trying to attract them here?” he continues “Sigh, listen. Give it one more try!” Richard tries one more time, he throws it with all the strength he has. It barely reaches the middle. Alberto says “I expected more but it’s good enough I guess." Alberto gives Richard the firecrackers, he says “Here! You have to throw all 3 of these one by one into the center of the field, you can’t afford to fuck up.” Richard says “Okay!” Richard holds up a firecracker for Alberto to light up with matches. Alberto lights up the firecracker, he says “Now!” Richard throws it, the firecracker just about lands into the center. Alberto says “Okay! Quickly, another one!” he lights it up, Richard throws it. It’s not as close to the first one as this one is slightly further back but it works. Alberto says “One more! Let’s go!” he lit it up, Richard throws it. This time Richard throws really hard, he threw it hard enough for the throw to hurt his shoulder. Richard holds onto his shoulder while saying “Oww.”. The firecrackers start to pop off, it’s successfully attracting the attention of the zombies, drawing them away from the bus. Alberto pats Richard’s back and says “Yes! You did it my boy! You did good!” Richard felt strange, he forgot what it felt like to have genuine praise instead of school girls praising him just because of his looks, he felt like he gained a little bit of life back.

Alberto says “Okay Richy, we gotta make a dash for the bus, GO!” Alberto starts running for it. The old man is pretty good at running for someone his age. Richard runs shortly after him. They get to the bus, Richard rapidly knocks on the bus while saying “Hey! Let us in!!” the students see Richard and get excited, one of them says “Oh my god! It’s Richard!” they start crying. One of the other students quickly run to the front of the bus and pulls the handle to open the bus doors, Richard and Alberto step onto the bus. Alberto notices a zombie arm on the floor and says “Bah, disgusting.” he kicks it off the bus. Richard pulls the handle and shuts the bus door. The students cheer in happiness and cry knowing that Richard is still alive. Richard says “Yes, I’m back students!” he smiles. Richard can’t really stand his own students, at least not anymore. He used to enjoy having brainless followers constantly praising him and putting him on the pedestal all the time, but after the outbreak he started to hate them more and more, hated them to the extent where he doesn’t care if their lives are in danger. Since Alberto is here now Richard needs to put on a show, if Alberto found out how Richard really is he would flat out refuse to help him. The students could easily expose Richard’s behavior, however, Richard knows how to woo his students, especially his female students. Richard says “My lovely students! I am so sorry about earlier! I was angry and stressed... I started to lose my cool and I snapped for no reason. I deeply apologize. Please, forgive me!” one of the students say “Aww, Richard...” another one says “It’s okay! We understand, Richard.” another one says “We love you, Richard! We forgive you!” Richard has the biggest grin on his face, but it wasn’t a grin of happiness. He was laughing inside of his mind, how easy it was to get them to forgive him. He thought about how stupid they were. Alberto said “Alright! Time to get this machine going!” as he was about to start the bus he asks “Where is the key?” Richard says “Oh, you’ll have to operate it by hotwire.” Alberto says “Never done that before.” Richard says “I think you put these two wires together.” Richard points which wires. Alberto successfully get the bus running, the students cheer again. Alberto says “Alright, let’s see how the skills of this old man is after 30 years!”.

Alberto drives Richard and his students to safety. Richard asks “Where are we going?” Alberto replies “I’m not too sure to be honest. I do think I have a place in mind though but it’s a lil far.” Richard says “We don’t have that much fuel to be going far...” Alberto looks at the fuel gauge, he says “We should be alright for now.” Alberto asks Richard “So what happened to your previous driver?” Richard pauses for a moment. He’s not sure if he wants to tell Alberto about how he got ditched by Angelina or how he forced a 15 year old boy to drive, only to be left to die sometime after. Richard lies once again and says “They didn’t make it.” Alberto asks “Bitten?” Richard nods. One of the students asks Richard out loud “Mr. Richard! What happened to Noah?” referring to the student that drove the bus. Richard pauses in silence. She also asked “Also what happened to Michael and Alex?” she refers to the other two boy students Richard took along with him. Richard badly wanted to make her shut up, he wanted to punch her. She was revealing too much. Alberto abruptly breaks as he sees something on the road. Richard asks “What is it? Why did you stop?” Alberto says “Look! There are spikes on the road. That can only be-“ the sound of vehicles comes out of nowhere.

People wearing dirty rugged clothes and masks were circling around the bus with their motorbikes. Pickup trucks park behind the bus to prevent them from reversing. Richard looks at them, he says “Raiders?” Alberto says “I call them dirt rags because that’s all they ever wear, dirty rags.”. One of the raiders stops and jumps off their bike, they stand in front of the bus door. He stares at the students on the bus, his eyes then diverts to Richard and Alberto. The raider was wearing a mask so all they could see was his eyes. He had a mawhawk and was covered in tattoos. He raises his hand and knocks on the bus door slowly while staring at Richard. Richard’s heart was beating fast, Richard asks Alberto “What do we do?” Alberto says “We have no choice but to confront the cunts. We don’t have food anyway so they might fuck off.” Alberto opens the bus door and gets up from his seat, he steps off the bus and stares face to face with the raider. Richard steps off and stands behind Alberto. Alberto asks the raider “What do you want?” the raider says in a deep voice “Got food?” Alberto says “No.” from the expression on the raider’s face you could tell he doesn’t believe him. The raider says “Tell the kids to step off the bus.” Richard asks “Why?” the raider doesn’t respond. The raider snaps his fingers and two big bulky raiders step forward, the raider says “We can do it for you.” Richard says “No, that won’t be necessary!” he looks at his students and says “Students, please step off the bus for a moment!” the students look scared. Richard says “It’s okay, just stand out here with me.” the students step off the bus and stand outside, they stay close to Richard.

The raider tells the bulky guys “Go check the bus.” Richard was about to say something but Alberto says “Richard, it’s fine. We have nothing to hide.” he says while looking at the masked raider’s face. The two bulky raiders step off the bus, they shake their head letting the masked raider know that there is no food inside. The raider says “How disappointing.” Alberto says “Well that’s too bad! Now leave us be. We have nothing for you!” Alberto turns around and signals the others to get back onto the bus, the raider says “ah ah ah, I didn’t say you can go. You disappointed us by having no food, now you need to compensate.” Alberto says “Compensate for what? Not having food around for you to steal? Not our fault we’re starving.” the raider says “We’re running low on supplies ourselves and we don’t really have anyone to fetch supplies for us. We want you to get supplies for us, once you do maybe we’ll consider leaving you alone.” Alberto says “Fuck off! I’m not falling for that bullshit lie. You also promised my colleagues that you’ll leave them alone and instead you took some of them hostage and used them as slaves! When you didn’t need them anymore you threw them away and allowed them to be eating alive by zombies... I’m not letting you do that to these students!” the raider says “Why don’t you just shut your old ass up before someone gets hurt, hmm? Get us supplies then we’ll consider letting you all go, capiche?” Alberto puts his foot down and says “No! God knows what you’ll do to us, what you’ll do to these students... I will never lend them over to you filthy dirt rags! Not after what you’ve done to my people!” the raider sighs. He pulls out his gun and shoots Alberto in the head.

The students scream. Richard’s heart drops, he was shocked. The raider says “I guess you’re in charge now four-eyes. You gonna obey? Or are you gonna die?” Richard asks “Are you really going to take us and use us as slaves like Alberto said? I’m just asking...” the raider says “You know what, I’m gonna stop fucking around now that the hag is dead. Yes, I was gonna use your asses to fetch us food. And there’s not a shit you can do about it. Even if you fight back we’ll just shoot you dead like this old fuck on the floor.” he continues “Besides, the girls are quite cute. How old are they? 15? 16?” Richard says “Wait, please listen! Don’t shoot!” the raider says “I’m listening.” Richard says “I have a proposition for you...” the raider says “Oh, so now the four-eyes has something to offer.” the other raiders laugh. He continues “You don’t have food, you don’t have other supplies, you don’t have shit! What could you possibly offer me?” Richard says “I don’t have anything to offer you, but I know someone who does” the masked raider raises an eyebrow. Richard continues, saying “There is a group roaming around the area, they have a military hummer, weapons, food, other supplies, and probably more. They are a group that consists of 9 people, 3 adults, 5, teenagers, 1 child. Most of them are females.” the raider asks “Why are you telling me this? Oh... I get it. You’re jealous of this group, aren’t you? That’s why you’re ratting them out to us.” Richard says “Oh believe me, it’s far from jealousy. They betrayed me, they betrayed us. They left us in this hell while they reaped the benefits of having food, water, and shelter. They have every single thing you’re looking for, you’ll get more from them than you’ll get from us.” the raider says “Do you really think revealing this info is gonna do anything?” Richard says “Please, all I ask of you is to not take us hostage. Believe me, they have everything you need! You can take them hostage! They’re good at finding supplies!!” Richard continues “I last saw them down Luvil Street, they’re probably finding shelter there for a day. They travel a lot so if you leave it too long they might be gone the next day! Please!!!” the raider says “Look at this four-eyed loser begging hahaha.” the other raiders behind him laugh along. The raider says “Alright, we’ll save you from further embarrassment. But first, we want your bus.” Richard says “What? No, Please!!! It’s going to be night time soon, we can’t survive at night without a vehicle!” the raider replies “Beggars can’t be choosers. Give up the bus or die, simple.” Richard says “Okay Okay! Take it! Just don’t harm us, please!” the raider says “I want that expensive rolex watch on your wrist too.” Richard reluctantly takes off his expensive watch and gives it to the raider. The raiders step on the bus and start the engine, the bus is now theirs. The masked raider says to Richard “Thanks for the bus and the watch, loser!” the raiders drive off on their bikes, cars and their newly owned bus. Richard gets left out in the dust with his students and a dead old man lying on the ground. He doesn’t really feel bitter though. Despite losing his expensive watch he feels fairly good. He feels good because he knows that the people he despises are about to suffer. He doesn’t really care how they suffer, he just wants them to feel what he felt. Richard smiles like a maniac. Now with evening quickly approaching Richard and his students are in danger of zombies, if they don’t find shelter fast things could get ugly for them.

Since evening was approaching it was time to make dinner. It was mainly canned food today since all the fresh veggies and fruits are scarce. Anna volunteered to make dinner this time since she wanted the others to rest. Ally came rushing downstairs into the living room in a panic. Angelina asks “What’s wrong?” Ally says “It’s Molly! I can’t find her...” Anna walks into the livingroom to see what’s going on. Angelina says “What? What do you mean you can’t find her?” Ally says “She’s gone! She’s not anywhere in the house...” Anna says “Oh no... it’s already getting dark outside too!” Ally says “I need to go out and find her!” Ally grabs her katana and tucks it into her belt. Angelina says “Wait! You can’t go after her alone! We’re coming with you.” Angelina grabs a variety of weapons and gives them to each person, she says “We can’t be leaving while unarmed now, can we?” Anna nods. Jacob receives a gun but for some reason gives it to Bailey instead, Bailey asks “You don’t need a weapon?” Jacob says “I’ll be fine.”. The crew leaves the house together to find Molly. Bailey says “Wait, shouldn’t we split up to find her? That way we can check multiple areas at once.” Jacob says “It’s not really a good idea to split up. What if someone gets in trouble?” Bailey says “Then the ones who are incapable of fighting shouldn’t split up then.” Jacob and Bailey look towards Isabella and Carl’s direction, those two can’t really fight to save their lives. Carl says “Okay, I know I can’t fight but at least I can shoot a gun!” Jacob says “Doesn’t matter, you and Isabella are staying together.” Isabella pulls something out of her pouch, she says “I have walkie talkies so we can communicate from afar! I only have 3 so you can only have 1 for each group.” Valeria says “I’ll go with Ally then.” Anna says “Me and Angelina can keep Carl and Isabella safe.” Jacob looks to Bailey and says “I guess we’re together again.” Bailey diverts her eyes away from him. Anna says “Alright, once you’ve found her report back to us through walkie talkie immediately and then meet back here.” Valeria says “Roger that!”. They split up to locate Molly.

Anna and Angelina lead the way while Carl and Isabella follows behind them. Carl starts speaking to Isabella, he says “So... is there any weapons you know how to handle?” Isabella says “Well... I guess melee weapons...” Carl says “Then how comes you didn’t get one?” Isabella says “Fighting is not my strong point.” Carl says “It’s not mine either.” Isabella says “But you have a gun!” Carl says “Just because I have a gun doesn’t mean I’m capable of fighting, besides... I never got to practice properly so I’m not even that good at shooting...” Isabella says “But you always used to talk about how good you are!” Carl says “But it doesn’t mean I am good.” Isabella says “That doesn’t make any sense? How could you say you’re good and shooting and then say you’re bad at it??” Angelina says “Wait, I found something!” Anna asks “What is it?” Anna says “Look, there are children’s footprints in the mud, it looks fresh too.” Anna says “She must be this way then, let’s keep going!”.

Bailey and Jacob check downtown just in case she went far. Bailey says “I don’t think she would go this far.” Jacob says “You’ll never know though, best to be safe. Besides, the others have covered the upper areas so why not go here?” Bailey says “Are you sure you haven’t brought me this far just so you could take advantage of the situation and call this an unofficial date?” Jacob says “And what if I did?” Bailey’s face turns into an angry expression. She says “You know that we’re looking for a child that’s potentially in danger, right? What’s wrong with you???” Jacob says “I don’t even think she went far! Look, I am 90% sure that she’s actually safe.” Bailey says “And how would you know that? She’s a child, Jacob. Anything could happen!” Jacob says “Bailey, we literally have all of the areas covered including this area. She will be found!” Bailey says “And the 10%? What if she actually gets hurt and you’re wrong? Then what?” Jacob says “10% is pretty small so...” Bailey says “Ugh... let’s just keep looking.”. Jacob and Bailey pass by a broken down gas station. Jacob says in a sarcastic voice “Oh look! A gas station! Maybe Molly could be hiding in here? Shall we call her name, Miss Bailey?” Bailey says “Can you not...” Jacob says “What’s wrong Madam Bailey? Don’t you want to find Molly?” Bailey says “Can you stop talking like that? It’s so cringey.” Jacob says “But Madam Bailey is dressed like a classy vintage woman, so she must be treated with class!” Bailey says “Stop talking to me like I’m some middle aged rich wife, I’m not even an adult yet!” Jacob says “But you’ll be 18 in 3 days.” Bailey says “You remembered?” Jacob nods. Bailey couldn’t hold her seriousness anymore and laughs, she says “You’re an asshole!” Jacob says “I know.”. Jacob looks up at the sky. Jacob says “It’s dark already.” Bailey says “This is what I was concerned about!” Jacob says “Well, it looks like we’ll be in danger now.” Jacob smiles. Bailey says “I’m sure there are others that are more in risk than we are.” the two of them stand there for a moment.

Bailey says “So are we just gonna stand here or something?” Jacob says “Oh? I was just thinking.” Bailey says “Great, so we’re just gonna expose ourselves in the open while you think.” Jacob says “I was just thinking about how nice it was to have a normal conversation.” Bailey asks “Normal conversation? You were mostly teasing me!” Jacob says “Okay, I was. But I’m saying it’s nice to talk without bringing up needing food or finding shelter or getting protection against zombies.” Bailey says “That’s true. To be honest, that’s all we ever talked about these past few days.” Jacob says “Yeah.”. Jacob heads towards the gas station’s shop. Bailey asks “Where are you going?” Jacob gives a sarcastic answer, saying “To check if Molly is hiding in here.” Bailey rolls her eyes. Jacob says “I’m just kidding! I’m looking for a pre-birthday gift to give to you just in case we get caught up in some other shit.”. Before Jacob enters the shop he says “And one more thing! If you see a zombie just scream for me, okay?” Bailey says “Why would I need to scream when I could just yell? Besides I have a gun.” Jacob says “Okay then, just yell for me if you’re in danger.” he goes inside the shop. Bailey waits outside in front of the gas station, the entire gas station and street were lit up with street lights. Jacob looks out the window and sees Bailey standing there with lights surrounding her, he thinks to himself how pretty she looks just standing there without needing to do anything. Bailey thinks to herself. Although she hates to admit it Bailey feels like she has developed feelings for Jacob, these feelings started to happen the moment they locked onto each other’s eyes by those stairs. She’s not sure if she should conceal these feelings or not. She’s not sure if she wants Jacob to be her lover. For her entire time during Highschool she has never set eyes on Jacob once. Her mind was always fixated on Matthew. But now she doesn’t understand why she’s suddenly feeling this way, it feels strange to her, and strange feelings makes her scared. Jacob looks around the broken store to find a gift for Bailey. There isn’t really much he can find since most of the items are broken anyway, but he sees one item he thinks she’ll love. It was a box of chocolates. It was kind of a cliché gift to give to someone, especially a crush or lover. But Jacob knew how much Bailey loved chocolate. He observes the chocolates to make sure they’re not spoiled or expired. Suddenly, Jacob hears a scream from outside, he rushes outside quickly to see what’s going on.

Bailey was in trouble. She was captured by a rough rugged man wearing a rough leather outfit, he had a gold tooth and a nose ring like a bull. He was holding a knife to her neck. He tells her to shut up and stop screaming. Jacob drops the box of chocolates and yells “HEY! LET HER GO!” the gold tooth man says “Ah, so you weren’t alone after all? Heheh.” Bailey was struggling trying to get out of his hold. Jacob says “I said, let her go!!” the man mocks and teases Jacob saying “And what are you gonna do about it, worm? I got your girl and there ain’t shit you can do about it.” he continues “Say, you got a fine piece here. She thick AND sexy.” he starts to rub his hands all over her body “Bet you get a piece of this ass every night.” Bailey tries to fight her way out while trying to pull his hands off of her. Jacob pauses with anger covering his face, he feels helpless. There is only one thing Jacob can do, something Jacob wanted to avoid doing. But at this rate the guy is leaving him no choice. The man says “You didn’t fuck her yet??? HAHAHA! Man, what a pussy!!!” he grabs her breast and squeezes it hard, Bailey releases a frustrated scream and yells “JACOB, STOP STANDING THERE AND FUCKING DO SOMETHING!”. “Hey, it’s okay if you’re a pussy! Let me just pitch in and do the things you didn’t have the balls to do. Hahaha.”. Jacob has enough and pulls out his gun he had tucked in the back of his pants and aims it at him. The same gun he found in the school’s storage, the very same gun he used to shoot Matthew. Jacob says for the last time “Let. Her. Go. I’m not asking again!” the man says “Haha, so now the little squirt knows how to point a gun, huh. Listen kid, just put the gun down and your little girlie here won’t get hurt.” he presses his knife deeper into Bailey’s neck. Bailey says “Jacob! Don’t listen to him! Just shoot!!!” the man says “Shut the fuck up! Don’t even try it. You’ll just miss and shoot her anyway.” he holds Bailey upwards and uses her as a body shield, the man is much bigger than Bailey so she doesn’t cover much. Jacob freezes in motion, he can’t do anything else but point the gun. Bailey yells “JUST SHOOT THE BASTARD!” the man roughs Bailey up and says “Shut up, Bitch!” he says to Jacob “Try it fucker, I dare you! Try shooting me without killing your bitch.” Jacob takes a deep breath, he was about to pull the trigger. He closes his eyes, once he opens them he aims and makes an attempt to fire.

As he was about to fire Jacob felt something pressed against the back of his head. He hears a voice say “Drop it!” it was another raider. The gold tooth man holding Bailey says “The fuck took you so long?” the other guy says “You said you’d have it under control, instead, you decided to fuck around.” the other guy pokes his gun harder into Jacob head, he repeats again “I said, Drop it!” Jacob closes his eyes and releases his fingers from the gun. The other guy says “Good, now kick it to the guy you’re facing.” Jacob looks at Bailey, both of them looked so helpless. He hesitantly kicks the gun over to the gold tooth man he’s facing. The man tosses Bailey to the side, throwing her to the ground. Jacob yells “Bailey!” in a concerned voice. He picks up the gun and tucks it into his holster. The guy behind Jacob says “Now take 2 steps forward and turn around slowly.” Jacob does as he says and turns around. The guy was wearing a combination of dirty rags and leather, he had a giant scar across his face. He asks Jacob “So is it just you two here? Or is there more?” Jacob says “Just us.” the guy says “Interesting. Well I heard that you two are from a group that has some hella sweet loot.” Jacob remains silent. The guy names a list, saying “Food, water, guns, a fucking military hummer.” Jacob swallows hard. The guy says “We want that. And we want all of it.” he continues “And you’re going to give it to us. Tell us where your other buddies are.” Jacob freezes. Bailey looks at Jacob. The guy says “Not gonna speak?” Jacob stays silent. The guy grabs his fist and punches Jacob, Jacob falls to the ground. Bailey yells “JACOB!” the guy says “I’m really not in the mood to play games with you, kid. I haven’t eaten all day, and I get pretty fucking angry when I’m hungry.” the guy pulls Jacob up back on his feet. He asks one last time “Tell me where your loot is, or bad shit happens, understand?” Bailey yells “JACOB, NO! YOU CAN’T TELL HIM! YOU CAN’T TELL HIM ABOUT THE REST OF US! PLEASE!!! THINK ABOUT WHAT THEY COULD DO TO US ONCE THEY HAVE WHAT THEY WANT!” the scarred face guy snaps his fingers at the gold tooth man and points to Bailey. Jacob yells “NO! WAIT!” the gold tooth man picks up Bailey and pulls out Jacob’s gun, he points Jacobs gun under Bailey’s chin. Jacob’s walkie talkie goes off. It’s Valeria on the other end. Valeria asks “Have you guys found her yet?” Angelina replies “Nope, we’re still looking.” Valeria sighs on the other end. The two of the raiders heard everything, the scarred face guy says “Interesting.” he gives a creepy smirk. Bailey starts crying, she looks at Jacob and says “Please! Don’t tell them...” Jacob’s eyebrow’s furrows while he watches Bailey cry. The guy says “So... what’s it gonna be? I’m losing my patience, kid.” Jacob comes to a rough decision.

Ally and Valeria travel around the places Molly was fascinated about. Earlier when they were traveling Molly would always say *Oooh!* and give a short story about every place she sees. Ally remembers those places she had pointed out and decided to check them all. Valeria says “Welp. There are only 2 places left we haven’t checked yet. It’s getting really dark too.” Ally says “I know but we must find her.”. Ally and Valeria check by the park, there were still no signs of Molly around, Ally sighs. Valeria says “Wait, look!” Ally looks over to where Valeria was pointing, it was Molly! She was holding a doll. Ally and Valeria run over to Molly, Ally says “Molly! You scared us so much!! Why did you leave like that?” Molly says “When Mommy and Daddy left home they ran by this place. My dolly fell while Daddy was carrying me and I told Daddy. Daddy said to me that he can get me another doll, but I cried and told him no one could replace Nancy! I was so sad! I missed Nancy so much!” Ally asks “Is that the name of your doll?” Molly says “Yes! Nancy!” Valeria says “We can tell the others that we found her now.” Ally says “Yeah.” Molly says “I’m sorry for making you worry.” Ally says “No it’s okay!” she rubs Molly’s hair. Valeria reports back to Angelina, she says “We found her!” Molly raises her voice and says “HI ANGELINA!!!” Angelina says “Oh my god, HI SWEETIE!” she continues “Val, let’s meet back at the house as soon as possible, it’s getting late.” Valeria says “Okay.”. Ally says “Let’s go, Molly.” Molly happily skips around now that she has reunited with Nancy.

Angelina, Anna, Isabella, and Carl return back to the house. They stand out for a moment trying to catch their breath after searching for Molly like crazy. Anna says “Thank goodness she’s okay! I was getting so worried...” Isabella says “Me too.” Angelina says “Same. At least we can relax now.” Carl says “Hey, did Jacob and Bailey respond when Valeria said they found Molly?” Angelina says “No, I don’t remember them responding...” Anna says “They didn’t.” Angelina says “Shit, now I’m worried for them.” Anna says “It’s not like those two to be caught though, they’re fighters.” Carl says “Let me try contacting them.” he presses his walkie talkie and says “Jacob? Bailey? You there?” no response. Angelina says “Shit...” Anna says “Let’s wait for a moment, maybe they’re busy?” Angelina says “What could they possibly be busy doing?” Anna says “I don’t know, they seem to have made up with each other after that incident they had. They could be bonding!” Angelina says “I doubt that would stop Bailey from responding though, maybe Jacob but not her.” Isabella says “Well I overheard that they were heading downtown so maybe they’re there?” Carl says “Uh... guys...” Anna asks “What is it?” Carl says “Why is there creepy guys staring at us over there.” she looks across the street.

3 raiders were staring at them, they didn’t look armed. Angelina says “The hell?” Anna says “I don’t like the look of these people.” Angelina says “Same.” Anna says “Let’s see what they want...” Anna steps forward a little bit, she asks “What do you want?” the raiders remained silent. Anna says “We’re not in the mood for any tricks, state your business or be gone!” they showed no signs of moving, neither did they want to answer. Instead they pulled out weapons that were hidden on their backs, they were melee weapons. Knives and machetes. Angelina says “Is that how it’s gonna be? Let’s show these fools what’s up!” the group pull out their guns and point it at the raiders, the raiders still held onto their weapons. Angelina says “Drop it, now!” the group push forward with their weapons aimed up at them, Isabella stays closely behind them while being weaponless. They still insist to stand there without saying a word, they show no signs of wanting to surrender either. Carl asks “Do they... have a death wish?” Anna says “I don’t know...”. One of the raiders puts his fingers in his mouth and whistles. Out of nowhere raiders on motorbikes surrounded the group, they were standing in the middle of the road and raiders started to circle around them. More raiders showed up in pickup trucks. The raiders get out of their vehicles and start pushing up to surround the group. The group stands back to back to each other while facing the raiders. Angelina says “What the hell is going on?” the group was confused. Isabella was shaking. The group looks side to side while watching each other’s backs, making sure that none of them try to pull anything. Suddenly a truck arrived, the truck was reversing backwards towards the group. They weren’t sure what was about to happen but one thing for sure is they wanted the group to see something at the back. The truck stops and one of the raiders opens the back of the truck. The group gasps at what they see. It was Jacob and Bailey, tied up with a cloth tied to their mouths.

Ally, Valeria, and Molly were heading home. It was a long exhausting day searching for Molly but in the end everyone was happy. As they were approaching Molly’s house Ally sees something. She grabs Valeria shirt and pulls her behind one of the house’s dumpsters for cover, Molly got dragged with them. Valeria says “What’s going on?” Ally says in a quiet voice “Shh! Look ahead!” it was the rest of the group being surrounded by raiders. Ally and Valeria can’t see much going on but they know for sure it isn’t good. Molly tries to speak but Valeria quickly covers her mouth and says “Shhh! Be quiet!”. They notice Bailey and Jacob tied up behind the truck. Ally whispers “What do we do?” Valeria says “I don’t know...”.

Angelina yells “Jacob! Bailey!” Angelina growls, she says “What do you fuckers want??” the raiders remained silent. Anna says “Are you all deaf? Can’t speak? What the hell do you want with us???”. The group heard another vehicle, the raiders make way for the vehicle to come down through the middle. It was a chopper/big dog motorcycle, a raider was riding it. But this raider was different, he had a long leather jacket and was wearing a black captain hat. This guy looked like a leader. He rode his bike all the way up to the group. He hung his head low, they group can’t see his face or what he looks like. He stops the bike and spits his cigar onto the ground. He says “Well look at that, more people...” he continues “Ah... how rude of me. I haven’t introduced myself. My name is Duncan Dean Harper, but you can call me...” he lifts up his captain hat and looks up at the group.

“Duke.”


	9. It takes a miracle to survive

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: Harassment, implied animal abuse, implied rape and torture and threatening the use of torture is in this chapter.

“You can call me... Duke.”

The crew gave Duke a dirty look. They thought to themselves **Who does he think he is?** Duke’s appearance didn’t help the group get a better impression of him either. He wore dirty rugged clothes just like the rest of the raiders, but he wore a long leather jacket. He had a black captain hat on and was covered in facial hair. Duke says “Heh. The look on your faces... I’ve seen that look before.” he gets off his bike and stands on his feet. Duke says “I’ve heard from my men that you have things I am very interested in.” his eyes look over to the parked hummer. The group stays silent. Duke says “I see you’re not in the mood to talk, that’s fine. It’s not something that needs discussion anyway. Just drop your weapons on the floor and oblige with us, then no one has to get hurt. What do ya say?” Angelina gets angry. She says “Who the fuck do you think you are?” Duke says “Woah! Calm down there, wild kitten. No one has to get hurt if you just do what I say.” Anna says “What do you want with us?” Duke says “What do I want? I thought it was obvious, dear.” Duke walks closer and says “I want everything.” Angelina says “Fuck that! We’re not going to give up everything we have suffered for!” Duke says “Are you sure about that?” Duke signals the guys on the truck to push Bailey and Jacob off, they fall to the ground. Jacob and Bailey groan in pain.

Angelina yells “NO!” she grits her teeth at Duke. Duke says “That wouldn’t have happened if you weren’t so stubborn.” Angelina says “Fuck you, Duke! Or should I say, DICK!” Anna says “Wait, just take our food and drinks and give us Jacob and Bailey back!” Duke says “Ah, someone willing to compromise! That does sound like a good offer, but, having your guns AND your hummer would be... more satisfactory.” Anna says “But we can’t do that! We need to survive too! Besides, food and drinks would be more essential to you.” Duke says “You’re not wrong, but I’m a greedy man.” he smiles at her. Duke signals the raiders to draw their weapons, they all draw their guns and aim at Jacob and Bailey. Duke says “Now where were we, oh yeah. Listen, I appreciate you willing to work something out but things are only allowed to go my way. So here’s your options, you give us all of your supplies and we’ll let those 2 on the ground live. And if not, well... I guess they die.”. Isabella quivers in panic. Angelina says “You piece of shit! THAT’S NOT EVEN A CHOICE!” Duke says “I don’t like talking to you, the girl in pink is nicer.” he refers to Anna. Duke says “Don’t get me wrong, I’m not fond of having to kill people, but some people just don’t leave me with any choice. I would hate to have to kill you and your friends, you seem like a nice person.” Angelina feels sick to her stomach hearing Duke talk about being **nice** while threatening to kill in the same sentence.

Duke continues, saying “What’s it gonna be, dear? We can’t be out here all night...”. Anna freezes in motion. She is forced to give all of the group’s hard earned supplies just to save Jacob and Bailey, but can she really trust Duke to keep them alive? Duke sighs, he raises his hand to signal his raiders to shoot. Anna says “Wait!” she takes a deep breath “We surrender...” she drops her gun in shame. She hangs her head low, feeling regret that she needed to surrender. Carl drops his weapon as well. The last person to be holding their weapon is Angelina, Isabella was weaponless. Duke says “Come on wild tiger, give it up.” Angelina is very reluctant to drop her weapon, the gun shakes in her hands. Anna holds Angelina’s hand and says “Angelina, Please! It’s not worth it...” Angelina releases a frustrated sigh, she drops her weapon on the ground.

Duke says “There we go! That was so easy now, wasn’t it?” Duke signals his men to seize the group’s weapons. Anna says “You have what you want now, you know where our house is, just let go of Jacob and Bailey!” Duke says “Hmm, you see... I’d do that, but there is one little problem.” Anna has a confused look on her face. Duke says “We lost a lot of our men from scavenging for food, and we don’t want any more casualties. However, it’s less of a burden to lose a ‘slave’ compared to losing someone from our gang.”. Angelina’s eyes widen. Anna asks “Why are you telling us this?” Duke says “Don’t play dumb. I already heard from someone that your group is pretty good at finding supplies, we need people like that.” Anna says “No! That wasn’t part of the agreement! You said you’ll take our stuff and let Jacob and Bailey go!” Duke says “Nah, I SAID I’ll let them live, not let them go.” Anna says “You piece of-“ Duke says “Save the insults for later, sweetheart. I already got enough from that wild kitten next to you.” Duke tells his men “Tie them up and put them on the truck.”.

The raiders close in on them, they grab each of them and restrain them. They tried to fight their way out of their grasp but it was no use. They were tied up and had a cloth tied to their mouth, then they were thrown on to the truck along with Jacob and Bailey. The raiders close the truck and slap the back of it, signaling the driver to go. After the truck drove off the raiders raided the house and ransacked the place. Ally and Valeria watched helplessly, they couldn’t do anything. Shortly after the raiders left with their supplies and trashed the house Ally says “I think it’s safe to move now.” Valeria says “That was painful to watch... we couldn’t do anything!” Ally says “I know...” Valeria says “And we still can’t do anything! It sucks being hopeless...” Ally says “I know!” she continues “This will be hard but right now we need to worry about ourselves, about Molly especially! We can try to find a way to save the others after but right now we need shelter.” Valeria says “I agree, it’s night and the zombies are vicious now. Let’s move!”. Ally and Valeria seek shelter by themselves, the number one priority is to protect themselves and Molly.

The two teenagers travel alone at night in the apocalypse with a child to protect. In this situation you couldn’t even think that things could get any worse. Molly asks “What happened to the others? Did those horrible people take them away?” Valeria says “Yes...” Ally says “But we’ll find a way to get them back somehow! I promise!” Valeria doesn’t feel so optimistic about that. It’s two teenage girls vs. a gang of grown ass men, it sounds impossible. They heard a zombie hissing from the shadows, Ally pulls out her katana and gets in a defense stance. Ally tells Valeria “Protect Molly!”. The zombie lunges out from the shadows with its eyes glowing, it was definitely stronger than usual. It comes charging into Ally, she cuts through it with force. Ally says “Ugh, they’re stronger!” Valeria says “I can shoot them instead.” Ally says “No! The gun is too loud! It will draw unwanted attention.” Valeria says “But you’re act risk of getting overpowered and bitten!” Ally says “I’ll be okay.”.

As they walk down further Ally notices something that catches her attention. There was a building that had a stairway leading downstairs, it looks like a basement. Ally walked down the steps to check it. Valeria asks “Where are ya going?” Ally bashes the padlock open with her katana. She looks inside, it was definitely a basement. Ally says “We can rest here, I think.” Valeria comes downstairs with Molly who was now getting sleepy. It was a risky move for Ally to randomly check a building like that. They all went inside, Ally locks the door behind her. It was an empty basement with cardboard boxes. It was definitely not comfortable but this was better than anywhere else. Ally rips up the cardboard boxes and makes a flat bed with it. They were hungry and kind of thirsty but they couldn’t go out to find supplies. Ally gets Molly to lie down on the flattened cardboard. She spends no time falling asleep. Valeria whispers to Ally, saying “We didn’t get anything to eat or drink.” Ally whispers back “I know, we can find food in the morning. We have to sleep!” Valeria says “It’s hard sleeping with a dry throat but I’ll try.” Valeria lays down, she feels very uncomfortable but sleep eventually catches her. Ally lies down while thinking about the others, she was worried for them. After her brain tires out from thinking she eventually falls asleep.

Anna wakes up, but she couldn’t tell if her eyes were opening or not. Her wrists were sore, her back was aching, and her mouth was dry. It took a bit of realization to realize that her eyes were actually open. It’s just that the room was pitch black, literally. At first, her mind was blank, she did not think at all. Then her brain started to work again, she remembered what had happened last night, then she started to panic. She had no idea where she was, she was scared. Moments later she heard a loud sound of a door unlocking, the door opened. The light beaming from the door blinded Anna for a moment. When her eyes finally adjusted she saw a raider standing by the door. He slams his baton on the metal door and says “Wake up, losers!” Anna looks around her and realizes that everyone was in the same room together. They were still tied up with their hands behind their back, I guess that explains why her wrists had hurt so bad. The others woke up from the loud noise. Raiders walked into the room and started taking everyone outside one by one. They were pushed and shoved to move faster. After a bit of pushing around they were shoved into another room where they had to wait while resting on their knees. The 6 of them were lined up facing opposite each other, 3 on one side and 3 on the other. The raiders walked behind them and untied the cloth from their mouth. They cough a little and tried to moisturize their mouth with their own saliva. Despite their mouths being freed they stayed silent. Raiders surrounded them inside the room. The group assumed that they might be waiting for Duke. While waiting they could hear a dog aggressively barking outside.

About 5 minutes has passed and Duke walked into the room, they had guessed right. Duke takes a seat on the chair in the middle, he was facing the group. Duke says “Wow, you all look like shit already!” the group still remained silent. Duke says “Well, let’s get down to the basics shall we-“ another raider walks in and interrupts Duke’s announcement, it was the masked raider. Duke says “Well don’t you have shitty timing.” the masked raider said “Sorry, boss!” the masked raider looks at the group in a confused way. Duke asks “What?” the masked raider asks “Only 6?” Duke says “Yeah, why?” the masked raider replied “Four-eyes told me there were 9. 2 teenagers and a kid is missing.” the group was confused, who was the ‘four-eyes’ they spoke of? Duke says “Well damn it, there sure is a lot of them.” Duke turns to the group, he says “Tell me, where are the other 3?” the group continued to remain silent while giving him a dirty look.

Duke sighs, he says “Do I always have to do shit to you to make you speak?” a raider says “Chop off their fingers and feed it to the dog. Let them know not to disobey the boss!” another raider suggests “How about we have fun with the gals?” another one says “brutally kill one of them and show them who they’re fucking with!” and then another one says “Kill the dudes and keep the bitches for entertainment!” the raiders started arguing over each other, trying to get their word in. Duke yells, saying “SHHHH! SHUT!!!” he raises both of his hands to show a **stop speaking** gesture at them. Duke says “Ya’ll are too fucking loud.” he continues “Now you shits listen. I’m running this shit so I decide what method of punishment goes.” the raiders silently stare, Duke continues “There will be no finger cutting, no killing, and most definitely NO raping! Ya’ll need to learn how to keep your shit in your pants.”. The group felt a little more at ease. Duke says “I won’t waste my time trying to get shit out of you, I know you won’t tell. But there sure as hell is consequences for hiding shit from me.” he leans in closer, he says “If my men find those 3 little squirts ourselves I will pick one of you scrubs at random, beat and torture the shit out of you within an inch of your life. And I’ll make sure I do it right in front of all of you. You better hope AND pray we don’t find them.”.

The group felt sick. They were all thinking the exact same thing. They couldn’t imagine having one of them tortured, and worse, what if he made Molly watch? The thought was horrifying. Besides, none of them really knew where they were, even if they did know they had no intention of telling Duke anyway. Carl throws up, a bit of the vomit gets caught onto his pants. Duke says “Disgusting.” the masked raider says “The fat fuck ate so much that he couldn’t even hold it anymore.” he kicks Carl, Carl falls over to the side with his head hitting the ground. Anna says “Leave him alone!”. Duke says “Well this meeting got messy really quick. Now let’s get down to what I was about to say before I got interrupted.” he looks at the masked raider while saying ‘interrupted’ the masked raider looks away. Duke continues “We got A LOT of food here already thanks to your loot, but you see... it never lasts long with us. Everyone here is a greedy fuck. And we simply need more. So this afternoon ya’ll are gonna be out on an expedition to find us food. And if you exceed my expectation you might be able to eat today.”. The group doesn’t feel good about his announcement at all. They knew that if they were forced to scavenge they were probably going to be weaponless. And worse, they knew the raiders would be watching over them like a hawk as well. They weren’t looking forward to it. Duke gets up off the chair, as he was about to leave he says “Prepare them for the expedition.” Duke leaves the room.

Ally woke up, Valeria and Molly were still sleeping so Ally wakes them up as well. All of them were hungry and thirsty. Molly was still sleepy. Valeria picked up and carried Molly on her back. The 3 of them left the basement together. They traveled down the street while keeping their eyes peeled since the raiders might be looking for them. There was a store across the street. The signboard was gone so they couldn’t tell what kind of shop it was but they went in anyway. It was your regular local store but the shelves were clear. Nothing was there for them to eat or drink. However, while looking around Ally luckily finds a water bottle on its side rolled under the desk. The bottle was squashed and it was leaking a little bit but it was still edible, at least she thinks it is anyway. She takes a sip out of the bottle and gives it to Valeria, Valeria takes a sip too, she then holds the bottle over Molly’s head for her to drink some. They only drink a little bit to save some for later. They still didn’t get to eat but they have water on hand at least.

Early noon came by fast, the sun was blazing hot. It would be very unlucky if you had no water or shelter and Richard had neither of those. He was walking in the blazing hot sun with his students treading slowly behind him. Richard’s body couldn’t take it anymore, he shuts his eyes and collapses onto the ground and moans about dehydrating. His students kneel down beside him and panic. They kept shaking him and begging him to get up. One of them said “Richard! Please! Don’t give up on us now!!” another student says “Oh no! Is Richard dying? We need to help him!!” another one says “Richard!! Wake up, please!” Richard couldn’t take it anymore, he opens his eyes and violently swings his arms around while yelling “GET THE FUCK AWAY FROM ME! YOU’RE ALL ANNOYING! LEECHES!! USELESS, ANNOYING, LEECHES!!!” he drops his head onto the ground again and lays there. One of his students says “Oh no! The sun has him delirious! We need water, quick!!” one of them finds a flowerpot filled with water, they pull out the flowers out and throw the water onto Richard. Richard violently shakes and flashes his arms as he sits up. He yells “WHAT THE FUCK!?!? YOU STUPID FUCKS! YOU’RE SUPPOSED TO MAKE ME DRINK THE WATER, NOT THROW IT ON ME!”. The student says “We’re sorry mister Richard!” Richard breathes angrily, he couldn’t believe how dumb his students are.

The remaining 6 from the crew were forced to go out and scavenge, however, they weren’t the only ones. There were 5 other people, it looked like they were there before them. The crew wondered if these people were also ambushed and taken hostage to find loot just like they were. Although they were curious they thought it was best to not ask. Before going on the mission the raiders split the groups into 2. They took Carl, Angelina and Isabella to place them with the other group. Anna says in a worried voice “Huh... What are you going to do with her? Why are you taking them??” the raider replies “Shut up.” the raiders bring 2 other people to join with them instead. Jacob feels relieved that he isn’t separated from Bailey. Carl and Isabella feel nervous and frightened. Angelina feels uncomfortable about being split from the others. The groups were confused, they couldn’t understand why they were being swapped out. The raider says “We don’t want you clowns getting up to no good, so we mixed you with other ones you aren’t familiar with.” Jacob replies “How the hell are we going to pull anything when you’re aiming guns at us?” the raider says “We know your type... you guys are the type to do anything just to live. And unlike the rest of the population you guys are still alive.” the raider walks away and signals the others to start the mission. The crew has to scavenge while being separated from each other.

Although the crew was separated from each other they all felt the same. Tired, hungry, and thirsty. They didn’t get to shower or change and the blazing hot weather doesn’t help at all. They were walking on foot with armed raiders watching them like a hawk. They felt uncomfortable. Anna, Jacob and Bailey walk silently with 2 other strangers. One of the strangers looked to be a man in his 20s and the other person was a woman that looked like she was in her late 40s to early 50s. The 3 of them glance with the strangers a couple of times but they didn’t exchange words. They went from store to store looking for loot, but they had no luck in finding anything. The places they went to either were empty or had spoiled and inedible food. A raider with a broken nose says “It’s funny how you can’t find food all of a sudden. Fucking rats!” he kicks Jacob in the ass. Jacob stumbles forward and holds onto his butt in pain. Bailey got angry and wanted to hit the raider but she had to compose her anger. Anna says “We can’t find food because you’re bringing us to places that have already been looted!” the broken nose raider replies “And you know it’s already looted because you greedy fucks already came here, huh.” Bailey says “No, it’s already been looted because people took supplies during the outbreak, you dumb fuck!” the broken nose raider says “Watch your mouth you fucking b-“ a raider wearing a scarf around his face says “Hey! Stop arguing with the slaves and make them find loot.” the broken nosed raider grunts. He gets his thumb and does a throat cutting sign at the group, they glared at him.

Angelina, Carl and Isabella’s group had a little more luck than the other group but it still wasn’t enough to be considered satisfactory. They were placed with 3 other strangers. A married couple and a guy in his mid 30s. And if being surrounded by raiders wasn’t bad enough having rabid dog constantly growling and barking aggressively made things worse. The dog wasn’t even full grown but yet it was so vicious. The dog was barely a juvenile, it was practically puppy still. The dog in particular kept aiming it’s aggressiveness at Angelina. While Angelina was staring at the dog she had noticed that the dog was limping. His back leg looked kind of twisted. She started to feel rather bad for the poor furry creature. Knowing these raiders they probably abused that dog to the extent where it’s vicious and trusts no one. Isabella was nervous and kept falling behind. She was even more scared because Anna wasn’t with her. The raiders would push and shove her to move forward quicker. Angelina moved closer to Isabella and grabbed onto her arm. Isabella got startled. Angelina said “Hey, just stay close to me and keep up, ok? I don’t want you to be pushed around by assholes.” Isabella nods.

As it got closer to afternoon the weather continues to worsen. The sun was beaming hotter than earlier. Richard treaded slowly while looking distant in the eyes. His students followed behind him at the same pace. The students would mumble words under their breath, Richard didn’t answer. While walking Richard turns his head to look at a building, it was a restaurant. Richard turns direction and walks towards the building. A student asks “Richard? Why are we going here...?” another student says “Yeah, why? They won’t have any food here!” he ignored them and continued. The students followed Richard anyway. The restaurant had shutters covering the glass windows and door, they couldn’t really see what’s inside. Richard grabs a rock and smashes the glass door open, he reaches inside with his arm and unlocks the door. He opens the door and goes inside. It was filled with nothing but darkness and empty tables. The students still couldn’t understand why Richard came here. It was very unlikely to find food in an abandoned restaurant, especially in the apocalypse. Richard would walk around and look. It didn’t seem like he was looking for food though.

Richard then pushed open the kitchen doors and looked inside. Nothing was there. The students look inside the fridges and cabinets, they found nothing. Richard notices a bottle of water sitting on the counter next to him, he sneakily takes it and holds it against his red jacket, hoping his students won’t notice. While wondering around the kitchen Richard hears shrieking noises, it was definitely zombies, but where were they? Richard presses his against the storage door, he could hear zombies inside. Richard then looks around to see if anyone is paying attention to him, everyone was too busy looking for something to eat or drink. Richard slowly unlocks the storage door and opens it a tiny bit. He then walks out to leave the kitchen. He closes the kitchen doors behind him and places a security bar behind the door so the students couldn’t get out. The students notice he had closed the doors on them. The students say “Richard? What are you doing???” “Richard!! Why are you doing this?” “Mr. Richard! Where are you going? Don’t leave us!!!” shortly afterwards Richard could hear the girls scream. They screamed and cried for Richard to unlock the doors. Richard stares blankly at the door, he then starts to slowly have a grin on his face, happy that he no longer had those students clinging to him. He opens his bottle of water and chugs it down, then he wipes his mouth with his sleeve. After the screams stop Richard walks out the restaurant with no regret.

Anna, Jacob, Bailey and the other 2 strangers continue the expedition. The hot sun was really beating down on them but they had no choice but to keep pushing. They finally stopped at another shop so it wasn’t too bad. They had a bit of shade from time to time to keep them going. The group searched inside the store. While searching Jacob had noticed that some of the raiders couldn’t stop staring at Bailey. He felt really angry and irritated, like he could punch them. Anna finally has a bit of luck finding something. She finds cans of corn. It was only a few but better than nothing. The raider in a scarf snatched it off of her and puts it into a bag. The woman that looked to be in her late 40s to early 50s said “Rude bastards, huh. It’s not like we’re going to eat the food right in front of them while they’re armed!” Anna stares at her. The woman says “My bad, I’m Monica. If you’re wondering how I got here... let’s just say my car was hijacked right as I was trying to escape the zombies.” Anna says “Oh... I’m Anna.” Monica says “Well that’s a basic name, isn’t it? Couldn’t your parents give you a more uncommon name?” Anna replies “I don’t know... why don’t you ask them?” Anna doesn’t seem to be in the mood for the woman, she walks away. The raiders move the group to scavenge in another location.

The other group moved in the heat nonstop. The hot weather really took a toll on Isabella, it looked like she could pass out any moment. Angelina noticed this and wanted to do something. Angelina says to the raiders “Hey, she’s exhausted and looks like she could pass out any moment. Could you at least give her water?” a raider with bucked teeth said “Well that’s her darn problem. She lasted this long, why can’t she last a few more hours?” Angelina says “Because it’s hot as fuck and you gave us no food or water SINCE MORNING!” the bucked teeth raider says “Lower your stupid mouth, slave. If you want to complain to someone go complain to Duke.” Angelina says “For fuck sakes, Duke isn’t gonna put your ass on a rake for giving her water. Stop being a stingy cunt!” Isabella looked like she couldn’t go on any longer, she starts breathing hard. The bucked teeth raider gets pissed and says “Listen here, bitch. I’ll pop you with a fucking bullet if you don’t shut the fuck up!” Angelina was furious how they were treating Isabella, she wanted to go all out and curse them, she didn’t care anymore. She says “What you need to do is pop your ugly ass bucked teeth with a bullet, you mole rat looking ugly fuck!” the man in his mid 30s steps in front of Angelina and Isabella with his arms spread out and says “Hey! Hey! Hey! Enough! We don’t need to shed blood here! Please!!” Isabella collapses under the heat.

Angelina kneels down and says “Isabella!” she touches her face, she was burning up with heat. The man asks with a concerned face “Is she okay?” Angelina says “I don’t know!”. The masked raider came out of nowhere and joined the group. The bucked teeth raider asked “Where the fuck did you come from?” the masked raider says “Was sent by the boss because he thinks you cunts are incompetent.” he notices Isabella is on the floor, he asks “The fuck is going on? Why are one of the slaves on the ground?” the bucked teeth raider says “She kept whining for water and then collapsed.” the masked raider asks “And you didn’t give her water?” the bucked teeth raider replies “The boss said they aren’t allowed to have anything till we get back!” the masked raider replies “He also said they need to return with some goods, and what good are they if they’re just going to keel over?” the bucked teeth raider replied “But we can’t go against the bosses rules!” the masked raider says “Okay, ass licker. What would be the best course of action to take then?” the bucked teeth raider stays silent for a moment. He sighs and says “Give the weakling a bit of water. And ONLY a little!” a raider throws the bottle at the man in his mid 30s, he catches the bottle. The man kneels down and pours some water into Isabella mouth, she swallows the water and coughs a little. Angelina says “You’ll be okay, sweetie!” the bucked teeth raider says “Hey! Give the fucking water back!” the man says “Okay! Calm down!” and gives the water. The raider says “Shut the fuck up about your ‘calm down’ bullshit. Now MOVE IT!” the man says “But she can’t stand yet!” the raider replies “Then make her stand!” Angelina says “Come on sweetie, let’s not rile up these assholes anymore than they are now.” the man offered help and said “I can help her walk.” they both pick up Isabella, the man brings Isabella arm around his shoulder. They start walking to their next destination.

While walking the man in his mid 30s said “I’m Bruce by the way.” Angelina replies “Angelina.” Bruce replies “That’s a nice name.” Angelina says “Meh.” Bruce replies “But it is!” Angelina changes topic and says “Looks like Isabella is recovering, she still didn’t drink enough though.” Bruce says “I agree. We should do more work so that she doesn’t do too much.” Angelina says “Yeah.” Bruce says “I remember when my daughter collapsed. I was worried and wondered what was wrong with her. Then I found out that she just didn’t drink enough water, she was dehydrated.” Angelina says “How comes she didn’t drink enough?” Bruce says “It’s because she hates water, she always tells me it tastes like nothing.” Angelina says “So why didn’t she drink anything else?” Bruce replies “It’s because she was on a school trip and the only thing they had with them at the time was water. The crazy girl would rather go without than drink water. The teacher told me over the phone that they were walking a fairly long distance and she just fell down. I never left my job so fast in my life just to make sure she was okay.” Angelina smiles, she thought it was lovely how he would leave his job just for his kid. Angelina then wonders why he was the only person here, what happened to his wife and child? Or even children if he had more. She was hesitant to ask but curiosity got the best of her. She asks “Do you have a Wife? And where is your daughter?” Bruce remained silent for a moment. He breathes and says “My wife... she got bitten during the apocalypse while we were escaping with our daughter. She said she didn’t want to be a danger for us so she left us. I had to lie to my daughter that she would come back one day... and up to this day she’s still probably wondering what happened to her mother. I should’ve just told her the truth...” Angelina says “And your daughter?” Bruce replies “I don’t know what condition she’s in but-“ the masked raider interrupts their conversation and says “Hey! Stop gibbering over there and move it! You’re supposed to be scavenging, not making friends!” Bruce says to Angelina “I think it’s best that we end our conversation here.” the two of them remain silent for the rest of the walk.

Late afternoon came, it was nearly evening. For the entire day Ally and Valeria have been looking for food and water with no luck. Just a chocolate bar which won’t do them any good, Valeria ate it anyway. Ally says “I can’t take it anymore!” Valeria says “What?” Ally says “We’ve spent the whole day trying to find food and water instead of thinking of a way to save the others!” Valeria says “I’m sorry Ally but I’m going to be honest with you... I don’t think we can.” Ally says “What? We can’t just leave them! What if they kill them? What if they killed them already? What if they’re preparing to harm them or do something horrible to them? We can’t just stand here and do nothing!!!” Valeria says “And we can’t just run in and get caught either! Ally, we have limited weapons, we don’t have any support to help us, and we’re only kids! We’re just 2 teenagers trying to protect a little kid. What more can we do? You already tried contacting Ashley too and she hasn’t responded to your calls all day...” Ally says “Maybe we can...” she pauses trying to think of something but nothing comes to mind. She releases a frustrated sigh, she crouches down to the ground and cups her face into her hands. Molly frowns, she walks over and hugs Ally while patting her head.

Valeria says “Ally, I’m just as sad about it as you are but I’ve kinda already accepted that we can’t do anything.” Ally lifts her head up and says “What if we go there and just... beg them to let them go?” Valeria says “You think the others haven’t already done that?” Ally sighs again. Valeria says “I think the others would want us to stay safe and protect Molly. We shouldn’t get desperate. Or else we’ll end up just like them while endangering Molly too!” Ally says “I can’t just move on while knowing that I couldn’t save my friends from the raiders, I just can’t!” Valeria asks “Could you live with putting Molly in danger?” Ally starts to tear up. Ally slowly stands up and wipes the tears from her eyes. Ally says “I’m sorry, Valeria, I don’t have the strength and courage that you have to just move on. I’m giving you full responsibility to protect Molly. I must do something to help the others!” Valeria says “Ally no! You’ll get yourself killed!” Molly cries and grabs onto Ally. Ally says “But what if I can do something?” Valeria says “You can’t. If you go you know I’ll just end up going with you. And then we’ll be both screwed!” Ally says “Then don’t come with me!” Valeria says “That’s easier said than done!” Molly says “Ally noooo! Stay!!! Pleeaaase!!!” Ally looks down and sees Molly tightly grabbing onto her leg, she started to tear up again.

While the 3 of them were weighing their options a man wearing a hoodie stood in the middle of the road, he watches them from a afar. Valeria says “Ally, look!” Ally looks up, she quickly pushes Molly behind Valeria and pulls out her katana from her belt. The man in the hoodie said “Wait! I do not want trouble!” Ally asks “Who are you?” while aiming her katana forward. The man pulls back his hood and says “My name is Eric. You probably won’t believe me but I’ve met two of your friends before!” Ally says “Which friends?” Eric replies “I don’t know their names but they were women. One of them wearing a pink outfit and her friend who was very shy. The 2 of them are always together!” Valeria whispers to Ally “Is he talking about Anna and Isabella?” Ally nods. Ally asks “Why are you here?” Eric says “I want to help you!” Ally says “Huh? With what?” Eric says “I know your friends have been kidnapped by raiders. I want to help you rescue them!” Ally says “How can we trust you? You don’t even know the name of our friends!” Eric says “I know it’s hard for you to trust me but I genuinely want to help you!” Valeria says “No one wants to help unless there is something in it for them.” Eric says “I know these raiders. They are ex prisoners, a lot of them were convicted for murder, rape, theft and other heinous crimes. You don’t want to leave your friends in the hands of these people, trust me!” Ally was very tempted to take his offer on helping, she gulps hard.

Ally says “Okay, we’ll trust you for once.” Valeria says “Ally! Do you really trust what this guy says? He doesn’t know the name of our friends and yet he knows that our friends were taken by raiders, how would he know that? What if he is one of them? How do you know he’s not distracting us while leading the raiders to us right now???” Ally says “If he’s right about these people then they will do the worse to our friends! I can’t live while knowing they could have died in the worst way possible! I’m going to trust him and that’s my final decision!” Ally tucks her katana back into her belt. Valeria sighs, she says “If you’re willing to trust him then I’m with you.” Eric says “Thank you for trusting me!” he walks forward towards them. Eric asks “Are you guys good on supplies? I have food and drinks in my backpack.” they were a little hesitant but since this is a trust situation they accepted his food. They went to sit in a comfortable place and started to fill their stomachs. They ate like they were starving for weeks. They didn’t feel weird after eating so the food must be safe. Eric says “Here is some info about them. Their base is a broken down factory, the factory is surrounded by walls and these walls are covered with electric wires. I should also mention that raiders patrol the area both from the inside and outside. I have a bag of explosives so what I’ll do is I’ll try to plant them by a wall and set them off. Once it goes off you girls will need to get over the walls while they’re distracted.” Ally asks “How are you going to plant the explosives if they constantly patrol the area? And how will me and Valeria get over?” Eric replies “Cut off their power supply and then cut the wires.” Valeria asks “And where will you be?” Eric says “I’ll stay outside to create a distraction while you rescue the others. You guys have weapons, right?” Ally says “You’ve already seen my katana.” Valeria says “I have a gun but I’m worried it will make too much noise.” Eric says “Don’t worry too much about noise, I’ve got an idea.”.

Ally starts to space out. Even though Ally made it her choice to trust Eric she still has troubles trusting him 100%. She’s forcing herself to trust him, pushing her untrusting instincts aside. Valeria asks “When do we start?” Eric responds “As soon as it hits dark. We don’t want to risk having them in their hands any longer so I think evening is good enough.” Ally asks “And Molly? Where do we keep Molly if me and Valeria are going in?” Eric says “Hmm, this is the tricky part.” Ally asks “What do you mean?” Eric says “You don’t want to leave her alone in a building but you can’t bring her inside with you either...” Valeria says “Yeah, we know that.” Eric says “Unless we bring her close by, not too close where she can be seen but not too far out of our reach.” Ally says “What place do you have in mind?” Eric says “You probably won’t think this is ideal but... there are bushes outside the factory, if we hide her there-“ Ally says “No.” Eric says “But we need her close by, especially if you’ll be getting your hummer back. This isn’t going to be a clean mission, uh... what’s your name?” he says while scratching his head. Ally says “Ally...” Eric says “Ally! Right! This isn’t going to be a clean mission, Ally. You know what needs to be done. We won’t be going in and out as smooth as you think...” Ally says “I know...” she sighs. Eric says “Don’t worry about Molly! I can disguise her in the bushes well enough so they can’t see her.” Valeria says “And the zombies?” Eric says “They aren’t by the factory for some reason. That’s why the raiders moved there.” he continues “Trust me, if you follow my plan 100% we should succeed.” Ally still doesn’t feel comfortable with this but she nods anyway. The plan is for them to move by night fall.

The raiders brought the 2 groups to one more building before they had to wrap up. The group with Angelina, Carl, and Isabella were looting in a house this time. Angelina found small things like chocolate bars and sodas. Bruce walked into the room she was scavenging in and says “Hey!” Angelina says “Hi!” Bruce says “The raiders said this will be the last place we loot before we go back.” Angelina says “Yeah, I’m not looking forward to it.” the two of them continued to loot. Angelina had just remembered the conversation they had earlier and says “You didn’t get to tell me what happened to your daughter.” Bruce says “Oh... my daughter. Well I don’t really know how she is or if she’s still alive...” Angelina says “What happened?” one of the raiders outside yelled “HURRY UP, SLAVES! WE’RE WRAPPING SHIT UP FOR THE DAY!” they both ignored the raider. Bruce says “Well when my wife got bitten I was practically running alone with my child. I didn’t know where to go, what to do, who’s help to seek. I just went as far as I could. We somehow ended up in a residential area that was filled with houses. I thought ‘Hey, maybe we can stay safe here for a while’” Angelina asks “What happened then?” Bruce says “A bunch of men riding motorbikes started chasing us for no reason. I didn’t have food, water, or any kind of supplies that are beneficial. They just chased us, not even caring I was holding a child in my arms.” Angelina says “My god...” Bruce says “I ran as fast as I could while carrying her, but I knew that I didn’t have the strength to go on any longer. So I quickly found a place to hide her, a place where hopefully the zombies couldn’t get to her. I put her on top of a truck and told her to remain silent. I told her that she couldn’t call for my name or scream at all.” Angelina’s eyes widen.

Bruce says “After I hid her the raiders found me and took me away. My poor little girl witnessed everything... I was so afraid that she might get scared and scream...” a raider walked into the room and said “HURRY UP! SLOW FUCKS!” Bruce says to Angelina “We should get going...” he starts to walk off with the supplies he found. Angelina yells “NO! WAIT! What was her name???” Bruce says “Huh? You mean my daughter?” a raider grabs Bruce while saying “Shut the fuck up and move it!” Angelina says “Yes!! Her!!!” Angelina says to the raider “Wait! Don’t take him yet, I need him to answer a question!” but the raider pushes her aside. Bruce says while being pulled from the room “Molly, her name was Molly!” Angelina thinks to herself **Molly! Her father is still alive!! But how do I tell him we have her when these bastards are around us 24/7... shit, this is hard.** a thought came into her mind, she realized what Molly meant by her father being taken by ‘creepy men’ she wasn’t talking about zombies, she was talking about raiders. Angelina’s arm gets grabbed by a raider but she shrugs him off and walks ahead before he tries to force her out again.

On the way getting back to the abandoned broken factory the 2 groups finally merge again. Both sides looked stressed and worried. They haven’t quite found enough supplies so they hoped they wouldn’t receive any crap for not bringing enough. Anna notices Isabella doesn’t look well, she gets worried. She tries to get close to Isabella to check if she’s okay but Anna ends up getting pushed by a raider and got told to walk straight. Angelina eagerly wants to tell Bruce about his daughter but telling him in front of raiders is a terrible idea. She hopes that she’ll have a chance to tell him before she gets locked up in a room again.

The group arrived at the factory, evening was nearly here. The group got pushed and shoved to go inside as usual. The pushing and shoving wasn’t necessary since they were already going in that direction. They get put inside a wide open room with Duke standing in the center. Duke says “Man, you guys just look worse by the hour, huh.” Duke says to the raiders “Drop the stuff on the ground.” the raiders empty out the bags filled with collected loot. Duke stares at the items placed on the ground, the group gets worried. Duke starts laughing for no reason, he says “Hahahahaha... Really? That’s all you could bring me? Scraps of shit? Compared to the shit we took from you this is straight up baby shit.” Anna wasn’t sure if she should say something, she decided to keep quiet. Duke says “So you don’t have anything to say? Not even a little explanation to justify this shit?” Carl says in a low stuttering tone “W- Well...” Duke says “Huh? What is it? Speak up, fat boy!” Carl gulps and says “We couldn’t find enough because your men brought us to places that barely had food!!” Duke looks at his men and says “Is that so?” the bucked teeth raider says “No, that fat shit is lying! We brought them to many places around the area including supermarkets. Those cunts just didn’t want to find shit for us.” the masked raider says “I did see them chatting and slacking a lot, even had a weakling collapse.” Duke says “Is that so...” Anna speaks up and says “It’s not our fault that the food is expiring. Many places have their electricity cut out so the food is going bad. Not only that but people already took advantage of the free supplies when the outbreak happened!” Duke says “I find it funny how you’re all speaking up so suddenly, it makes you look guilty.” everyone remained silent to not make things worse.

Duke says “You know what? I think I need to set things straight. I think I need to show you all why I’m the boss around here, and why it’s a death wish move to cross me.” everyone in the room goes pale, they have no idea what Duke was about to do. Duke snaps his fingers. The raiders grabs some rope and tie up everyone in the room. Jacob says “Hey you can’t do this! This isn’t fair, it’s not our fault we couldn’t get enough food!” Duke says “Shut it, boy. I can do whatever the fuck I want. I. AM. THE. LEADER.” the raiders push them down on their knees after tying them up. They were all lined up in a line tied up while sitting on their knees. Duke says “Ah, this is giving me memories... those days where I would line up people and beat them to a pulp.” some people in the group start crying. Duke says “Heh, they always start crying after they realized how hard they fucked up.” he walks over to Isabella and lifts her chin, tears were streaming down her face. Duke says “Those tears of fear... and regret.” a raider says “The fat shit is crying too! What a pussy...” Angelina feels really uncomfortable, it feels like death and tears are in the air. Duke says “Alright, now let’s play a game.” he walks over to a seat and sits down.

Duke says “I want ya’ll to vote who should die, the person that gets 3 votes first gets brutally murdered right in front of all of you!” everyone freezes with shock and fear, they can’t imagine voting to kill someone just to live. Duke says “Come on, don’t tell me you’re all best friends now and that you can’t let go of one sacrificial lamb just to save your own asses...” everyone still remained silent. Duke says “Alright, if that’s how we’ll play the game... if no one gets voted to die I will kill 3 of you instead. How about it?” the group felt doomed. The dude with a blue shirt from the group of 5 says “I vote for the girl with the black dress.” he refers to Bailey. Jacob growls at him and says “What the fuck?” Duke says “Now THAT is what I’m talking about! Mind telling me why you chose her?” the guy with the blue shirt says “She has a loud mouth. That’s not good for the rest of us survivors.” Jacob says “The only one that has a loud mouth is you, you piece of shit.” Jacob was furious with the guy. The gold tooth raider says “Aww look at that, he’s mad that his bitch got voted for sacrifice.” the other raiders laugh.

The husband from the married couple says “I vote for the girl that fainted.” Anna looks at the man in anger, she says “How could you just vote someone to die just like that???” the husband says “She collapsed during our hunt and she held us back. She’s just a liability to us, so I vote her.” Duke says “Ah, 1 for 1. Come on, keep voting!” Jacob says “I vote for the cunt over there.” he refers to the guy in the blue shirt. Duke says “Ah, revenge I see.” the older woman named Monica says “I also vote the girl in the black dress, she’s loud and a nuisance.” Jacob says “Imagine voting a young girl to die instead of putting your old ass up instead.” Monica replies “I owe loyalty to no one.” Jacob says “You stupid old bitch, you already have 2 feet in the grave you old hag.” the wife of the husband says “I vote the same girl my husband voted, I’m sorry!” Anna feels rage. The votes are now 2, 2, and 1. Bailey couldn’t take Isabella’s crying anymore and started crying too. Jacob felt so bad that he couldn’t do anything, he couldn’t imagine losing Bailey. He felt like he was losing an important part of his life. Duke says “Come on, just one more. Vote for one of the girls and it’s done!” Angelina stares at Bruce, she wonders if Bruce is also going to vote someone out. Angelina knows that everyone else besides Jacob most likely won’t vote, but can she trust Bruce? Bruce takes a deep breath. Angelina knows he’s about to say something, she holds her breath and clenches her eyes shut.

Bruce says “Please, stop!” Angelina opens her eyes in surprise. Bruce says “I apologize on behalf of everyone. I know it isn’t easy for them to apologize but I’ll own up to it and say it for them! I promise that we’ll do much better in scavenging in our next expedition. I promise that you’ll see way more food than before, 10 times more! And if I’m wrong you can just kill me instead! Please, don’t shed blood...” Duke says “Hmm, I gotta give it to ya, you have balls.” Duke says to his raiders “Untie him.” they untie Bruce. Duke says to him “Stand up!” Bruce stands up. Duke also stood up and walked towards him, he says “How does it feel being the only hero in this whole room?” Bruce says “Uhh.. I wouldn’t say ‘hero’ but it does feel strange and frightening.” Duke says “I like your honesty.” Duke he smirks at Bruce.

Duke grabs Bruce and pulls out a razor sharp cutting knife, he stabs Bruce in the stomach with it. Angelina yells “NO!” he pulls out the knife and throws Bruce down onto the ground. Duke says “This is why you don’t put yourself on the frontline for others. It’s not being brave, it’s being flat out stupid.” Everyone was staring in shock. Tears were streaming down Isabella’s face. Bruce was lying on the floor with blood pouring out of his stab wound. Blood started to fill up his mouth, he was choking on his own blood. Duke says “Well, good news! Now that this jackass is slowly dying, the rest of you get to live another day. Well, that is if you don’t fuck up again.” Angelina was frustrated, she couldn’t believe that Molly’s father was going to die without any knowledge of his daughter still being alive. Bruce stares at Angelina with dying eyes. Angelina tries to mouth to Bruce **Molly is alive.** she didn’t have much hope that Bruce will understand since he’s practically bleeding to death. But Bruce spat out the blood in his mouth and said back to her “Please take care of her.” he somehow figured that Angelina knows and has Molly. Angelina had tears streaming down her face, but it was tears of relief. She was relieved that Molly’s father dies knowing that his daughter is alive, but at the same time sad that Molly will never see her father again. That her last memory was her father being taken by ‘creepy men’ Angelina could feel her heart shatter.

Moments later Bruce stopped moving, his eyes were wide open. Duke says “The fuck was he talking about? Take care of who?” Angelina stared in silence. Duke says “Sigh, anyway. Take him away.” the raiders took Bruce’s body away. Duke asks the masked raider “Have you found those kids yet?” the masked raider replies “Nothing yet, they’re probably killed by zombies or something.” Duke says “Or probably hardcore survivors like these fuckers.” the masked raider says “Should I find the four-eyed cunt and squeeze more info out of him?” Duke says “To be honest you shouldn’t have let him go in the first place, we could always do with an extra few scavengers.” Anna says “Who is this four-eyes you speak of? This isn’t the first time you’ve mentioned him, and he seems to know so much about us...” the masked raider says “Oh. You don’t know yet? Hahaha... it’s the four-eyed bitch boy in a red suit. Dude says the reason why he’s selling ya’ll out is because you ‘betrayed’ him.” Angelina says “Richard... RICHARD!” Jacob says “I should’ve known it was that motherfucker as soon as he said four-eyes...” Anna says “That fucking... BASTARD!” Duke says “Wooaah Woah! You got some beef with this guy, huh. Damn!” Duke continues “Anyway, it’s time to lock them up. They won’t be getting food tonight, not after the baby shit they brought me. Just give them a bit of water.” the masked raider replies “Got it, boss.” The raiders pick up everyone and push them out the room.

Eric and the girls start gearing up to begin the rescue mission. They head out a little earlier than planned. Ally says “Wait, it isn’t completely dark yet!” Eric says “I know, we aren’t starting yet but it’s better if we don’t go to the factory while dark.” Ally says “Okay.” and nods. The 3 of them travel on feet, Valeria was carrying Molly on her back. Ally still doesn’t think it’s a great idea having Molly close by but she doesn’t want to leave her alone inside a house either. They travel a bit of a long way to reach the factory. On the way Eric would give them more details about the plan and how they should time it to pull it off. As they traveled further they noticed the nature around the area got thicker and darker. Eric says “We can hide Molly here and keep her under the cover of darkness with blankets covering her.” Ally says “Okay.” Eric says “There aren’t any zombies in this area, trust me.” Ally says “Okay.” having Eric constantly telling her to trust him isn’t making Ally feel any easier about this. Once they got close enough they took a turn for the bushes. Ally got Molly to lay down and she covered her with dark blankets to not only hide her but protect her from the cold night air.

Valeria says “Listen Molly, we need you to stay very quiet! Don’t move an inch, we will come back for you!” Ally says to her “Molly, if you don’t see us come back after a while... please run.” Valeria says “Why would you tell her that after I just told her to stay put?” Ally says “Because I don’t know if we will be back for sure...” Valeria frowns. Ally says “We need to take precautions Valeria...” Valeria says “I know... but let’s not confuse her, okay? Molly, stay put please.” Molly nods. Eric points out of the bushes and says “Do you see why I said this is a good spot? You can see the factory clearly from this area. We’re not too close and not too far either. She should be safe.” Valeria says “Right, so when do we move out?” Eric says “I need an opportunity to go in and place the bombs. For this to work we’ll need to split up.” Ally says “We know.” Eric says “Okay, I’ll need you two to scout your way to the side of the factory wall, once you’re there throw this piece of spoiled meat as close to the wall as possible. The raiders have a dog patrolling from the inside so the dog will smell the meat, once the dog starts barking it will create a distraction for me to quickly plant the explosives. Once you hear the dog start barking quickly make your way to the back, wait for the explosives to go off then quickly shoot their electricity box, the power will be down for approximately 5-7 minutes so cut the wires fast and jump over, I will follow you shortly after.” Valeria and Ally nods. They split up and proceed with their plan.

The group gets shoved into a room. It was the same room they were in earlier while they were waiting for Duke. They thought that maybe the raiders will come in later and put them in the lockup room. The raiders had untied them as they got shoved into the room so they were free to roam. The group couldn’t stand looking at the people that wanted to sell out Isabella and Bailey for their lives. They looked at each other with anger, disgust, and hate. While they were silently trying to tolerate each other inside the same room they could hear raiders talking. The sound was too muffled to hear clearly what they were talking about but they do know that raiders were lingering outside the hallway.

The gold tooth raider says “I swear Duke fucking sucks sometimes. I don’t get why he’s always trying hard to redeem himself. If he can’t do shit himself just let us do it.” the bucked teeth raider says “I agree, him giving us these stupid ass rules like ‘don’t beat them, don’t touch them.’ is so fucking stupid to me.” the gold tooth raider replies “Dude probably thinks we still don’t know what he did to his wife.” the bucked teeth raider says “Then he proceeds to kill one of them after trying so hard to ‘redeem’ himself. He’s full of shit.” the raider with a mawhawk steps into the middle of the conversation and asks “What are you guys talking about?” the gold tooth raider says “Duke giving us rules on what not to do with the slaves then proceeding to kill one himself like a hypocrite.” the raider with a mawhawk says “Oh that.” The bucked teeth raider says “He won’t even let us punch them around a little.” the raider with the mawhawk says “Or play with the girls...” the gold tooth raider says “The one in the black dress is hot as fuck, but her boyfriend is an annoying piece of shit. I swear I could kill his ass.” the raider in the mawhawk has an idea and says “Why don’t we start shit with them?” the bucked teeth raider says “Are you mad, dude? If Duke finds out we startin’ shit...” the mawhawk raider says “Chillax. Duke never comes for us if it’s the opposing side that started shit.” the gold tooth raider says “Ah, you want them to come at us, smart bastard!” the bucked teeth raider says “Let’s do this shit.”.

The 3 of them brought a couple other raiders in on the plan, they all entered the room and started staring at the group while smirking. After a while of awkwardness Angelina says “The fuck do you want? Why are you staring at us like that?” the bucked teeth raider says “Shut the fuck up.” the gold tooth raider started touching Bailey’s hair, she tries to brush him off. Jacob says “Dude, leave her alone!” the gold tooth raider says “Or what? What you gonna do pipsqueak? That’s right, nothing! You see, Duke gave us permission to have our reward, and we thought why not play with the chicks? Hahahaha.” Angelina throws up a little in her mouth. Jacob says “You piece of shit! If you try anything I swear...” the gold tooth raider picks up Bailey and grabs her. Jacob lunges at him and pushes him away, he then follows up with a punch to his face. The other raiders grab and restrain Jacob, they started to beat him up and kick him down to the ground. Angelina, Anna, and Bailey try to help defend Jacob but they got overpowered by these oversized burly men, they were held back and restrained while they watched Jacob getting beaten. Duke and the masked raider walk into the room, it looks like Duke was informed by the raider in the mask. Duke says “Woah! Woah! Calm your asses DOWN!” the raiders stop attacking Jacob, Jacob’s face is bruised a little and he has a cut on his bottom lip.

Duke says “The fuck is going on here THIS time?” the gold tooth raider lied and said “This piece of shit on the ground attacked me for no reason!” Duke says “Bullshit.” the bucked tooth raider backed him up and said “He ain’t lying, we were about to give these fools water and gold tooth Dan over here made a harmless comment about one of ‘em. Then he started throwing fists.” Duke asks “And what did you say for him to go like that?” the gold tooth raider replied “That the girl in the black dress is sexy as fuck. He didn’t like it because he got some kinda crush on her or some shit.” Bailey starts yelling “THEY’RE LYING!” Anna says “Exactly! They weren’t giving us water, they just started harassing us for no reason!” the older woman named Monica says “They weren’t lying, I saw the whole thing myself.” Bailey looks at the older woman in disbelief, why would she lie for the raiders? Jacob couldn’t believe how someone would blatantly lie like that for their own benefit, it made him realize how quick people can turn when their life depended on it. Angelina says “Shut up you old stupid bitch!” Duke says “Well if it is true then honestly Dan I think you should refrain from making comments to provoke them.” the raider in the mawhawk says “Are you serious, boss? You always beat the shit out of someone for even trying to fight back, you just gonna let this dude go?” Duke says “And what if I do? You DID say something to provoke them...” the bucked teeth raider says “It’s ironic that you recently stabbed a dude and left him to bleed out but we can’t even punch and kick this little shit around, it says a lot.” Duke says “It says what? Come say it to my face, Pete.” The bucked teeth raider says “That you’re a hypocrite, boss.” the masked raider says “He does have a point, Duke. You really are looking like a hypocrite right now. If you keep letting these people get free passes they’ll just keep taking the piss with you, like that one on the floor right now.” Duke remains silent for a moment. It was the first time multiple of his own men opposed him like that. Duke says “Alright then. Since you bastards are so eager to spill blood...” he walks towards the door to exit. Duke continues “Do whatever the fuck you want to him I guess.” Duke leaves the room.

The raiders ganged up on Jacob, punching him and kicking him. Bailey was crying, she was screaming and begging for them to stop. The rest of the crew felt helpless, they couldn’t do anything. The other people in the room were just there watching blankly. The married couple held onto each other. Jacob was coughing up and spitting out blood. They gave him a black eye and a busted lip. He felt like his ribs were caved in, he may have a broken rib. The bucked tooth raider kicked him again in the ribs. The gold tooth raider started grinning. The raider with the mawhawk asks “What is it?” the gold tooth raider said “The boss said we could do anything to this fool.” he pulls a switchblade out of his pocket, he says “I did say I always wanted to kill this fool. Then I can have fun with his girl without hearing his stupid ass.” Bailey screams “NOOO!” the gold tooth raider says “Hold him up.” they held up Jacobs arms and pulled back his head, Jacob was barely conscious after all that beating. The gold tooth raider says “I’m going to enjoy this!”

Ally and Valeria make it to the side of the wall. Ally asks “You got the meat?” Valeria says “I got the Meaty right here!” she gives it to Ally. Ally gathers all the strength she has and throws the meat as close to the wall as possible. They both duck down into the bush and wait for the bark. The dog successfully smells the scent of the meat. The dog’s barking distracts the raiders. Ally and Valeria quickly crouch-run their way to the back of the wall. Eric waits for the raiders on his side to move, a raider came outside and told the others on patrol to check what is outside the wall that is provoking the dog. Eric turns around to Molly and says “Wait here, We’ll be back, okay?” Eric makes a run for it. He quickly plants the explosives down without being seen, Eric then runs back and prepares to detonate it. Ally and Valeria make it to the back of the wall, Valeria pulls out her gun and prepares to shoot. Ally says “Remember, he said you gotta shoot right when the explosives go off so that they don’t hear the shot!” Valeria says “Got it!” right as Eric detonates the explosives Valeria shoots the electricity box. They successfully completed the first part of the mission.

Right when the gold tooth raider was about to slash Jacob’s throat with a switchblade the power goes out. The gold tooth raider says “The fuck?” the bucked teeth raider says “Was that a bomb? I heard some shit go off.” the mawhawk raider says “I’ll go check with the others.” the mawhawk raider walks out with the other raiders. Duke walks into the main room and asks “What the actual fuck is going on? I heard explosives n shit and now the power is out?” the masked raider says “We’re checking it out right now.” Duke says “Switch on the backup power while you’re at it!” Duke wonders what’s happening with a puzzled look on his face. The raiders outside who checked out the side of the wall found the spoiled meat, they spoke on the walkie talkie saying “Found meat at the side of the wall to trigger the dog. This was planned!” the other raider says “Aight.” Duke heard the message over the walkie talkie, he went to his office upstairs and grabbed his shotgun.

Valeria and Ally were cutting through the wires. Valeria says “Good thing this abandoned pickup truck is here or else we probably wouldn’t be able to reach the wall.” Ally says “We gotta hurry, we only have about 5 minutes before they put the backup power on!” Valeria says “I know I know! I can only cut through this so fast...” after they snipped enough through the wires they quickly make their way over the wall. They were hoping no one could see them from the other side. Valeria gets over the wall first, she says “Hurry Ally! The coast is clear!” Ally struggled to get over a little bit but Valeria helped pull her down. They both drew their weapons, Ally drawing her katana and Valeria pulling her rifle. Ally says “We must stay close and watch each other’s backs.” Valeria says “Right. We gotta ninja our way through this and keep crouching.” the two of them crouch walked around objects to stay as hidden as possible.

The masked raider walked into the room where the crew was and says “What the fuck are you cunts doing here slacking?” the bucked teeth raider says “We weren’t given orders, dipshit.” the masked raider says “Well here is your order, you horse teeth fuck. The boss wants you to put the power on which should’ve been on minutes ago. MOVE IT!” the bucked teeth raider mutters some words to himself while walking out the room. The masked raider says “You too, cunt.” he refers to the gold tooth raider. The gold tooth raider says “Why do you need me to do it too?” the masked raider says “It’s a 2 man job, now fucking do it instead of eagerly wanting to cut someone.” the gold tooth raider leaves the room angrily. The masked raider leaves the room afterwards and locks the door behind him. Bailey was still crying, Bailey says “Oh my god! Jacob are you okay??? I can’t see anything!” Jacob groaned in pain, he says to her “...I’m okay.” Bailey gasps in relief.

Eric swiftly climbs over the wall and lands onto the ground. Eric was less fortunate than the girls though. A couple of raiders who were scanning the area caught him. One of the raiders yelled “HEY! STOP THAT PIECE OF SHIT!!” they pull out their guns and start shooting at Eric, Eric makes a dash for cover. Ally and Valeria were already searching for an entrance outside the building, they haven’t been seen so far. The girls hear gunshots, Ally says “Eric...” Valeria says “He should be ok I think. This was his plan, remember?” Ally says “I guess.” Valeria says “Let’s take advantage of the dark and get inside before they power the lights back on.” Valeria and Ally came across a side door, it was sealed shut but Ally jammed it open with her katana. The girls open the door slightly and slip through the gap, they were now inside the factory. It was very dark and they could barely see anything, just machine lights glowing. Valeria whispers “Where do we start?” Ally says “I don’t know...” a raider came walking down the hall, the girls hid behind a large box. Another raider shows up, he asks “Is anyone powering this shit back on? Where are the fucking lights???” the other raider says “They’re working on it right now. Did they find the source of the explosion?” the other raider replied “Yeah, some fucktard dressed in black. They couldn’t see his mug because of his hoodie and mask. They’re searching for his ass right now.” the other raider replies “Good. Also go check on the slaves for me will ya? Duke said to keep eyes on all places.” the other raider replies “Will do.” he walked off in the opposite direction. Ally pulls Valeria while whispering “Let’s go, this guy will get us there.” they swiftly slip past behind the other raider to follow the other guy.

Eric was panting. He ran like crazy away from raiders. He knew that they were on an all out search for him, but this was good since it kept them distracted from the girls. He grabbed a couple of firecrackers from his bag and lit them with a lighter. He threw them as far as he could to distract the raiders. Once they started cracking he quickly made a dash to move to another area.

While Ally and Valeria were following the raider the power came back on. The girls were startled because the factory lit up so bright. Valeria spotted another raider coming around the corner, she quickly pulled Ally into a small empty room. Ally whispers “This room has no doors!!” Valeria whispers “Shit.” the girls kneel down low to the ground. The room was so small that they could barely hide. The raider kept walking closer to the room. Ally and Valeria try to quiet their heavy breathing. The raider walking down the hall suddenly stops. Ally pokes Valeria to ask what was going on but Valeria shrugs. Ally crawls closer to the door and peeks around the corner. The raider was fiddling with a phone, it looked like Isabella’s phone. The raider lifts his eyes off the phone, Ally quickly pulls away before she gets seen. The raider continued down the hall. The girls clench tight, hoping that he doesn’t see them. The raider walked straight past the room without looking. They were safe. Valeria whispers “How are we going to find that raider now?” Ally says “I’m not sure but we should keep going.” the girls moved on.

The explosion impact on the wall created a big fire. The raiders were trying hard to put the fire out but buckets of water wouldn’t cut it. The raiders started moving away object that could catch fire to try and contain it. Doing this occupied a lot of the raiders from doing their usual duties. The fire was so big that it could be seen in the air from a distance. This has caused zombies to be attracted to it. They started shuffling their way to the direction of the factory.

The raider unlocked the door and walked inside while armed. Everyone was still inside the room. The raider stares at the group in a suspicious way and double checked the room to make sure. Instead of going inside and keeping guard he decided to stand outside the door and leave the door open instead. Monica asks “What’s going on?” the raider replies “Shut up, hag.” the raider stood there with a rifle in his hand.

Ally and Valeria sneaked around the hallways. They try to find the raider they were following earlier. While moving down the hall Ally grabs Valeria and does a **Shh** sign at her. She points forward and shows her the raider standing by the door, he doesn’t notice them. Ally and Valeria were crouching low, Valeria aims her gun at the raider, she looks to Ally and waits for her to give a signal when to shoot. Several raiders appeared down the hall behind Ally and Valeria, a raider yells “HEY! DROP YOUR WEAPONS YOU LITTLE SHITS!” they draw their weapons and started shooting at them. The raider guarding the door got alarmed and drew his weapon as well. He steps outside the room and shuts the door, he aims his shots at Ally and Valeria who were hiding behind the walls. Ally and Valeria push each other behind the hallway’s walls. The two of them were hiding behind a wall while facing opposite each other. The bullets penetrated the cement on the walls, causing the cement dust to fly at the girls. Valeria yells “SHIIIIT!” Valeria and Ally cover their heads with their arms while bullets were being shot at them. Valeria tries to shoot back at them but cement kept backfiring at her. Valeria says “How the hell do I shoot back if they don’t give me a chance.” a bullet flies past Valeria’s head she screams “AAAAH SHIT!!!!” the girls were stuck.

Angelina says to the others “What the hell is going on?” the blue shirt guy said “I don’t know but I’m making a run for it!” he dashes out the room to escape. Angelina says “What the fuck!?!” the husband in the room tries to pull his wife up from the ground and convince her to go with him, he says “Look, if that guy is breaking out then we should make a run for it too!” the wife says “But it’s too dangerous! There is rapid gunshots out there, we could be killed!” the husband replies “If we stay here we will get killed anyway.” the wife says “Darling, please! Don’t do this!!” the husband replies “Ugh, you can stay here and die if you want! I’m going!” he pulls away from her grasp and makes a run for it. She says “No, wait!!!” she runs after him, while chasing after him she gets shot. Her husband successfully gets away. The group didn’t see what happened outside those doors but they know for sure she got caught. Jacob thought it was messed up how he left his wife like that, he couldn’t imagine leaving Bailey like that. Monica says “From that scream I’m assuming she didn’t make it. Humph, impatient morons.” the others in the room side-eye at her.

Angelina says “Do you think it’s Ally and Valeria out there helping us?” Jacob says “That would be impossible. Especially with Valeria...” Angelina hears a scream, it sounded like Ally. Anna says “It is them!” Angelina says “We need to do something FAST!” Bailey says “You shouldn’t try anything too dangerous, there is a raider out there guarding this door!” Angelina makes up an idea quick, she runs and dives onto the raider standing by the door. Bailey yells “WAIT!” Angelina crashes down onto the raider and punches his face, she then snatches the rifle from his neck. She starts opening fire at the raiders standing down the hall. They ducked and hid behind the corner. Monica runs behind Angelina and escapes straight down the hall. Bailey says “What an opportunist old bitch.” Valeria says “Thanks Angelina! I got this!” Valeria starts opening fire at the raiders. Ally yells “QUICK! Get out of the room and run!” the crew makes a dash for it. Jacob needed help moving since he was beaten down. Carl and Bailey put his arm around their shoulders, they help him out. Angelina yells “ALLY, VALERIA, GO! I’LL COVER YA’LL!” she continues rapidly shooting, giving the raiders no chance to shoot back. Once Ally and Valeria get out safely Angelina backs up down the hallway while shooting, once she makes it to the end she quickly swings around the corner. The raiders attempt shooting at her once she stops firing.

The zombies approached the factory fast. Because it was nighttime the zombies could move faster. The zombies moved towards the factory from all directions, including the bushes. Molly could hear hissing and rustling noises coming closer. She was so scared that the poor child peed herself in fear of being found by zombies. Molly couldn’t take it anymore and made a run for the factory.

The blue shirt dude that escaped earlier ran into a place that looked like a garage, he quickly hopped in a car and tried to pull the wires out to hotwire it. A raider caught him trying to escape in the car, the raider points a gun at him and yells “STEP THE FUCK OUT OF THE CAR!” the guy quickly starts it and slams onto the acceleration pedal. The raider shoots him in the head.

The group makes a run for it together. Angelina says “Wait!” Ally asks “What is it?” Angelina says “We can’t just leave without our weapons or our hummer.” Jacob says “You must be insane if you think we should find those now! We’re free for fuck sakes!!! Let’s make a break for it.” Angelina says “If we step out there without weapons then we’re as good as dead! Use your damn head, Jacob.” Anna says “She’s right, the weapons we have right now won’t do it.” Carl says “Let’s go quickly! We shouldn’t be here arguing until we get caught!!!” Valeria says “Right?” Anna says “Okay, let’s go!” the group searched each room to find the weapons, Valeria and Angelina kept their eyes peeled for raiders.

Monica had found a pistol lying around on the counter, she checked the gun and made sure it was loaded. Someone barged in behind her, she quickly turned around and shot the gun out of reaction. It was the husband that had escaped earlier without his wife. Monica was shaken in fear out of how the man barged in, but she didn’t care that she had shot him. Monica quickly moved to find an escape. While rushing down the hall she felt a bullet shot through her back. She was stunned for a moment, then she fell face first on the ground. It was Duke, Duke shot her with a shotgun. Duke says “No one escapes me. No one!”

While opening one of the doors Isabella gasps, it was the weapon’s room. Anna walks over and asks “What is it?” Isabella says “I found it!” the group quickly rushed into the room and grabbed most of their weapons back. While digging through the weapons Jacob recognizes his pistol, the same pistol he got from the school’s storage. You’d think he’d leave that cursed weapon behind after shooting his best friend with it but he picks it up and tucks it behind his pants. Bailey says “Okay! We’re mostly armed and ready.” Angelina says “Now we gotta get our hummer back!” Ally says “We saw a garage somewhere, it might be there!” Ally took the lead to show them the way.

On their way to the garage they met with the raiders again. Angelina yells “HIDE!” the group took cover. Both sides started shooting at each other. The group’s side was winning because they had more ammo. Angelina yells “GIVE IT UP, ASSHOLES!” Valeria also yells “YEAH, WE HAVE MORE AMMO THAN YOU!” they could hear the raiders muttering something to each other. The raiders retreated. Anna asks “That’s all? Why did they retreat so easily???” Valeria says “They’re low on bullets!” Anna says “No, it feels like it’s something else.” Ally says “What if they were planning on blocking us from the outside?” Angelina says “If that’s the case then we have a surprise coming for them.” Angelina smirks. The group make a quick dash for the garage, once they got inside they ran into the rabid dog that growled mostly at Angelina earlier. Bailey says “Shit, that dog doesn’t look friendly at all!” Jacob says “We’ll have to shoot it.” Angelina says “No.” Jacob says “What do you mean no? It looks vicious as hell! No doubt it will attack.” the dog growled and barked at them. Saliva was dripping from its mouth. Angelina stepped forward slowly while looking into the dog’s eyes. The dog started to get more aggressive as she came closer. The dog started snapping and barking at her. Angelina pointed her gun and clicked the safety trigger off, after the dog heard the click it started to cower in fear. The dog was shaking. Angelina kneeled down and slowly placed her hand on its head, once her hand rested on its head she started stroking it gently. She kept stroking it until it calmed down and it wasn’t shaking anymore. The dog started to lick her hand. Anna says “Wow, amazing!” Angelina says “It looks like we have a new friend!”.

A raider barged through the garage door, he was alone. Bailey quickly turned around and aimed her gun at him, she yells “HANDS UP, FUCKER!” it was the bucked teeth raider. The dog turns around and growls at him. He put his hands up and says “Woah! Don’t shoot!” Anna says “Drop your weapon, NOW!” the raider said “Okay Okay!” and quickly dropped his weapon. Angelina asks “Where is the hummer?” the raider said “The what?” Angelina yells “I said where is the hummer you mole rat looking shit!” she shakes the gun at him. He yells “WAIT! CALM DOWN GOD DAMN!! I didn’t know what you meant at first!!” Angelina says “Where is it? I’m not asking again.” the bucked teeth raider pointed in a direction while saying “It- It’s ou- It’s outside! It’s like... under a tent or some shit. DON’T FUCKING SHOOT, PLEASE!” Bailey asks “And the keys? Where is that?” the raider stutters, saying “I- I... I have it.” Bailey says “Throw it to her!” the raider throws the keys at Angelina, Angelina catches it. Jacob says “I hope you aren’t going to let him live.” Angelina says “What?” Jacob says “He needs to die. If we don’t kill him he will just end up telling the others.” Ally says “They will find out that we’ve escaped anyway, it’s not worth it!” Jacob says “Not worth it? Those bastards wanted to kill us, they wanted to torture the shit out of us. If we kill them it’s what they deserve!” Bailey says “Jacob, no. He is one garbage out of the bunch, killing him won’t do shit for us. Let’s just leave and get far away from them instead.” Ally says “Plus we have Molly out there waiting for us, let’s not waste anymore time!” Angelina says “You brought Molly with you???” Valeria says “Yeah but she’s safe, we’ll explain more to ya later.” Angelina nods. She then turns to the raider and says “Okay, mole rat. Move it!” the bucked teeth raider asks “What are you doing with me?” Angelina says “I said, MOVE IT!” Angelina shoves him out the door, she then locks the door from the inside. Jacob really wanted that guy dead but he was in no shape to oppose the others. Angelina says “Let’s quickly get that hummer and get the fuck out of here!”

Molly runs up to the factory to get away from the zombies. The zombie hoard was pushing their way up at a rapid rate. While Molly ran she got spotted by a raider. The raider says “Hey, Kid! Get back here!” Molly screams and runs. She tries to conceal herself into the long grass to hide from the raider. The raiders who were outside trying to control the fire spot the zombie hoard pushing forward. They warn the other raiders through walkie talkie. Duke orders them to prepare to fight. Molly hides in the tall grass but it didn’t help her as much as she wished. The raider found her, he picked her up by the collar and said “Come here, you little shit!” Molly screamed. She tried to fight out of his hold. A zombie crept up behind the raider and bit into his shoulder. The raider drops Molly, she falls onto the grass. Although Molly was a little hurt she scuttled her way back up and ran.

The crew was outside, they saw the hummer under the canopy tent just as the raider said. As they were making a run for the vehicle the raiders saw them. They started firing at the raiders, leaving them little to no room to shoot back. Ally says “Angelina, get in! We’ll cover you.” Angelina quickly hopped in the hummer and started the vehicle. It was running smooth as before, but she also noticed that the hummer reeked of the raiders. She tries her best to ignore the smell. The young puppy hopped into the vehicle to join her, she already looks happier than she was before. Angelina yells “GUYS! GET IN!” everyone moved their way towards the hummer while constantly firing. The group eventually had to stop firing and quickly get inside the vehicle. The raiders started opening fire at them. Fortunately for the group this military hummer has bulletproof armor, the bullets didn’t affect the vehicle. Angelina slams her foot to accelerate. Carl quickly opened the roof of the hummer and used the gun sitting on top. He fired rapidly at the raiders.

Ally says “Wait! What about Eric?” Bailey asks “Eric? Who is that?” Ally says “Long story short he helped us save you.” Valeria says “Nevermind Eric, dude can handle himself. We need to get Molly!” Isabella gasps and says “Is that Molly over there?” Angelina asks “Where???” Isabella points, Molly was hiding behind a van inside the factory grounds, but how did she get there without getting caught? Anna says “Stop the car, I can get her quickly!” Angelina abruptly stops the hummer. Although the raiders were still shooting Anna made a quick dive to get Molly, she picks her up and runs back to the hummer. Angelina says “Alright ya’ll, buckle up! We’re driving through fire!” Valeria says “Oh no...” Angelina runs over the zombies in the way and drives straight through the fire. Although it was scary Angelina felt hyped doing that for some reason. Bailey says “Oh my god... we did it!” Anna says “Yeah... we did!!” she sighs in relief.

Duke watches them through the window of his office while slowly chewing on his tobacco. He says “So, you think you made it... but for how long? How long will you be able to escape Duke’s wrath? Hahahaha...” he spits out his tobacco.


	10. Last Resort

The group kept traveling nonstop. They didn’t care about where they were going. All they cared about was getting as far away from those raiders as possible. It was late in the middle of the night. They all looked tired and exhausted but Angelina had no intention of stopping. She didn’t even know which way to go, she just kept driving. Valeria was stroking and playing with the puppy. The pup looked about 3 months old, she was a husky mix. Valeria says “Aww, her tongue constantly sticks out. So cute!” she cuddles the puppy close to her face. She says “I’m gonna name you Yuki!” Isabella says “That’s a cute name for her.” Carl says “I can’t believe a dog that small was so aggressive.” Valeria says “I don’t blame her! Those raiders probably didn’t treat her good.” Angelina says “They didn’t. I saw her limping.” Valeria says “Wow, those mean ogres!” she nuzzles the puppy and says “Don’t worry. You’re safe with us now! We’ll treat you good.” Yuki licks her cheek. Bailey grabbed a first aid kit from the back to clean Jacob’s cuts and bruises. Bailey applies antiseptic to a cotton ball and dabs Jacob’s cuts, Jacob winces a bit from the stinging pain of the antiseptic. Bailey says “Sorry.” Jacob says “It’s okay.” Bailey gives a slight smile to Jacob.

Ally was lost in thought. Valeria notices and asks “Is something wrong?” Ally says “Oh, no. Nothing is wrong. I’m just wondering what happened to Eric.” Bailey says “Oh yeah, you didn’t tell us who this guy is.” Ally says “I don’t really know who he is either. He just came out of nowhere and claimed that he wanted to help us.” Angelina says “That’s strange. Did he tell you anything else?” Ally says “Yeah, he said that he met Anna and Isabella before but didn’t know their names.” Anna asks “He met us before? I’ve never heard of a guy named ‘Eric’ though.” Isabella says “Me neither. What did he look like?” Ally says “He was Asian. He wore all black clothes with a black hoodie.” Isabella says “A black hoodie...” Anna asks “Wasn’t that the same guy that ran into the tunnel that you chased after?” Isabella says “Yes! But why would he want to risk his life helping us???” Bailey says “I have no idea but if it wasn’t for him we wouldn’t be here...” Isabella says “But it’s so creepy how he showed up out of nowhere. Me and Anna haven’t seen his face either...” Valeria says “I would’ve taken a picture if I had my phone.” Ally says “Isabella is right, this is creepy.” Angelina says “Let’s not burst our brains trying to figure this Eric guy out. What matters is that we get as far away from here as possible.” everyone nods. Angelina says “What I do wanna know is whose smartass idea was it to leave Molly alone???” Valeria says “Umm, Eric?” Angelina says “Did you guys really listen to a guy you don’t even know? Imagine if Isabella didn’t see Molly hiding, she would’ve been in serious danger!” Ally says “I didn’t want to bring her either but if we left her on her own elsewhere she could’ve been in worse danger and we wouldn’t be nearby to help her!” Molly says “Angelina, I’m okay! I’m here now! Please don’t fight!!!” Angelina sighs. Anna hugs Molly. Angelina says “Look, just don’t leave her alone like that ever again, okay?” Valerie replies “Okay.” Anna says “We shouldn’t be arguing right now, we literally just got out of hell.” Bailey says “I agree, let’s just try to relax.” Angelina says “It’s hard for me to relax. They might still be after us...” Anna says “Do you really think so?” Angelina says “Maybe, I don’t really know. I just rather be safe than sorry.” after a bit of talking and arguing everything went silent.

It was somewhere around 2:00 AM. Richard was lying down on the road in the middle of nowhere. No buildings or signs were in sight, how did he get here? Richard was a complete mess, he was laying on the ground with his eyes open. He was crying, depressed, starving, dehydrated, and also smelly. He was miserable about how his life went from 100 to 0, how he was practically rich and happy, how he lost it all in one day. He felt like his life was really over. He didn’t care if zombies found him and ate him, he didn’t care if he would dry up in the hot sun, and he didn’t care about anything anymore. Richard saw a light, it was moving on the road while slowly approaching him. He didn’t react. He was too mentally exhausted to comprehend that a vehicle might run him over. As the light got closer he could tell it was a vehicle. The vehicle came up close right in front of him and stopped. The lights were brightly blinding but Richard stared right into it anyway. Richard couldn’t really see but it looked like a large vehicle. A couple of people stepped out of the vehicle. Richard’s eyes widened. He got up off the ground and sat up. He said “Oh my god... YES! PLEASE, SAVE ME!!! I BEG YOU!!!”.

* * *

_**13 years before the outbreak.** _

_A police officer who was on break had his police car parked up in an alleyway. A few speeders drove by but he didn’t really care, he was too indulged in a newspaper he was reading. A short moment later he got a call on the police radio. The person on the radio said “Found two suspects leaving a building down Hudton Avenue with a black bag, the bag is suspected to have drugs inside. The suspects are on foot.” the police officer put down his newspaper and quickly responded saying “On my way.” he started up the police vehicle and headed to the location. When he arrived at Hudton Avenue he found the two suspects with the bag, when looking at them he could tell one of them were still a minor, at least 17 years old. The suspects noticed the cop car and tried to play off cool. When they realized the car was following them they broke out into a sprint. The officer turned on his siren and reported on the radio “Suspects are on the run, they’re heading down Erton street.” another officer on the other end said “Roger that.” as the officer was trying to cut them off the suspects took a turn for the back alleyway. The officer quickly stopped the car and ran after them. While running the two suspects ran into a caged fence, they needed to climb over to escape the cop. The youngest suspect climbed over first, after he got over the other suspect attempted to give the bag to him over the fence. The officer grabbed the older suspect and pinned him to the ground, the younger suspect ran away._

_The officer pulled out his walkie talkie and said “Caught one of the suspects. The other suspect is running through the back alley of Erton street.” the officer looked at the suspect on the floor, he looked scared. The officer asked “So why were you running?” the suspect kept quiet. The officer picked up the bag and asked “What’s in here?” the suspect says “It’s nothing man. I ain’t doing anything wrong!” the officer unzipped the bag and found grams of cocaine. The suspect got frustrated that he was caught. The cop asked “How old are you?” the suspect replied “I don’t know, older than you?” the cop then asked “How old is the kid?” the suspect replied “I don’t know! Why the fuck you asking me these questions? Shouldn’t you be telling me to remain silent or something...” the cop asked “Where did you get the drugs?” the suspect says “Out of my ass or something.” the officer had enough of his sarcasm and pinned the guy against a wall. The officer said “Listen, punk. I’ve dealt with shit like you before, and what happens to them isn’t pretty.” the suspect says “If you’re tired of me just cuff me and tell me to remain silent.” the officer head butted the suspect, punched him, then threw his head against a trashcan. His head bounced off of the trashcan and he fell to the ground. The cop then grabbed a handful of his hair and said “Answer my fucking questions.” the guy spat blood on his shoe instead and said “You know what you’re doing to me is wrong, right? I’m not even harming anyone!” the officer threw his head down to the ground and pulled out a knife, he flipped the suspect over and kneeled down over him, he then pressed the knife onto his neck._

_The suspect says “Agh! Please, stop! What the fuck are you doing to me?” the cop says “Answer.” The suspect says “Okay okay!” the cop asked again “Where did you get the coke?” the suspect replied “I- It was from a drug dealer! We were just drug runners, we don’t supply the stuff, only deliver it!” the cop asked “How old are you?” the suspect replied “2- 26...” the cop asked “And the kid?” the suspect remained silent for a moment. The cop yelled “ANSWER ME!” while pressing the knife deeper into his neck. The suspect yelled in a shaky voice “I- I- I DON’T KNOW! The kid is probably 16 or 17 or some shit I don’t fucking know!” the officer said “So you had a kid to do the dirty work for you. Raising him to be a drug runner are you?” the suspect says “I don’t fucking know who the kid even is! They just told me to take the kid with me and show him how things go.” the cop said “So basically teaching him...” the suspect gulps hard, he keeps silent. The officer got up from the ground and pulled the suspect’s hair again. The suspect got on his knees. The suspect said “Please... don’t kill me!” the officer said “Lick the bloody spit off of my shoe!” the suspect said “What?” the cop said “I said, lick the bloody spit you spat on my shoe before I cut your face.” the suspect’s lips quivered, he was hesitant to do it but he had no choice. He kneeled down close to the officer’s shoe and did as he said. Although it was the suspect’s own blooded spit he felt sick. Having the taste of shoe polish didn’t make things any better. The officer said “Good.” and proceeded to punch the suspect’s face a couple times more. He grabbed his head and threw it against the wall. The suspect was knocked out cold._

_The officer looked at the suspect and realized how bloody and beaten down he was compared to himself. He knew the other cops would suspect something. He threw himself against the wall to create bruises and punched his own face several times. He did this to make it look like he and the suspect were in a fight. He hid his pocket knife into a hidden pocket inside his socks. Minutes later a couple cops arrived on scene. They noticed the suspect was beaten down and knocked out on the ground. One of the cops walked up to the officer and asked “Are you ok? Do you need an ambulance?” the officer replied “No, I’m fine. Just a few scratches.” he limped his way back to his car pretending to be beaten down and sat there to provide himself some first aid. Another cop arrived at the scene. He stepped out of his car and went straight to the officer sitting in the car. The officer walked up to him and said “Officer Duncan.” Duncan said “Officer Mac.” Mac said “You look pretty beat down Duncan. What happened?” Duncan said “Just a criminal thinking he could fight his way out of the situation.” Mac said “You should really be carrying a gun or taser with you. I don’t get why you refuse to carry one.” Duncan says “Because there are only small petty criminals in this town, they aren’t worth it.” Mac says “It’s not the first time you were attacked, Duncan. You should really consider...” Duncan said “Worry about yourself.” Mac gave up trying to convince Duncan. Duncan asked “Did you find the kid?” Mac said “Yeah, the others cornered the kid off and captured him.” he continued “I’m gonna go back to the station and see what’s up.” Duncan nodded. Mac returned back to his car and left._

_After a long day at work Duncan went to the bar to go drink. Duncan had a strong alcohol tolerance but he was also a heavy drinker. Mac walked into the bar Duncan was drinking at. Mac said “You’re always here after work, huh.” Duncan asks “What are you doing here?” Mac says “Just came for a drink.” Mac tells the bartender to get him a glass of beer. Mac says “So... did you really beat up that guy because he was hostile or did you beat him up because you wanted to?” Duncan gulped down his whiskey, he kept quiet for a moment. Duncan says “Why would I beat up someone for no reason?” Mac says “It’s not the first time you’ve beaten a guy nearly to a pulp. It’s not a coincidence that you’re the only cop that meets hostile suspects frequently either.” Duncan says “Are you saying I’m a liar?” Mac says “I’m saying I think you’ve got issues, Duncan. You should do something about it.” Duncan says “You don’t know shit about me, Mac. Now back off!” Mac stares at him for a moment. Mac knew that something was up with Duncan but he didn’t want to escalate things further. Mac took his time drinking his beer. Both he and Duncan didn’t speak for a while. After Mac had finished his beer Mac said “By the way, try not to go home drunk. I don’t want your wife to cry to me over the phone again because of something you did.” Mac got up from the chair and left the bar._

_Duncan came home drunk. He entered the front door while stumbling everywhere. Duncan’s wife Louise walked into the living room and saw Duncan. She noticed he was drunk again. Louise wanted to walk away but she stood there and watched him instead. Louise wanted to speak, she wanted to ask how his day was, or how he ended up so bruised. She was afraid to say anything that would tick him off. Duncan walked off and shuffled himself upstairs. Louise walked back into the kitchen and wrapped away the dinner she had made for Duncan, he has been avoiding her dinner lately. She knew he wasn’t going to eat it. Louise sighed. She waited for him to fall asleep before she went to bed. When she entered the bedroom she saw Duncan spread out on the bed, he didn’t bother to take a shower or take off his uniform. Louise couldn’t stand the smell of the alcohol on him. She grabbed a blanket and pillow and decided to sleep downstairs on the couch instead._

* * *

_**Duncan Dean Harper or Duncan Harper for short was a 28 year old police officer. Duncan was married to a beautiful woman named Louise. They were married for 5 years. Louise was a 26 year old who worked at a nursery school. She is a caring a loving person to Duncan. They had no children. Though Louise always wanted kids, Duncan kept telling her he wasn’t ready. Duncan had begun his training as a cop at the age of 19. He met Louise at the age of 21 and married her when he was 23. When Louise and Duncan first met they were like an inseparable couple. Duncan loved her very much. Though, there was one thing about Louise that annoyed Duncan, the fact that she was a very religious person. Duncan wasn’t religious so Louise bringing Christianity and bible discussions into their conversations would bother him. Even though it bothered him he was willing to overlook this for the sake of their love. One day they got married and they loved each other even more than they thought they could have. However, one day, Duncan started to change. This happened at the second year of their marriage. This was around the time he got promoted at his job. Duncan started to come home late and Louise began to be irritated by this. It got worse when he came home bruised with cuts. Louise would worry and ask him what happened. Duncan would tell her that he was just taking down hostile criminals and that it’s just part of his job being a cop. Louise believed this until one point Louise noticed blood on his knuckles. She realized the blood wasn’t his and she started to question what Duncan really does out there. Anytime she would ask and question “Are you sure?” Duncan would get angry quickly, he knew his wife started to suspect something of him. As time went by Duncan’s actions progressed to get worse.** _

_No one knew what Duncan was really like, not even his wife knew Duncan had a dark side to him when she had met him. Duncan was a sadistic psychopathic man that enjoyed inflicting pain and loved humiliating people for the sake of his own satisfaction. He used his job as an advantage to do violent things to people and get away with it under a police badge. He would beat up criminals and get away with it because no one believed the words of a criminal. Duncan always had this dark side to him, but this dark side truly came out after he became a police officer._

_**4 months earlier.** _

_One night he came home with his uniform completely covered in blood. Duncan tried sneaking upstairs to quickly cleanup but Louise already heard him come through the door. Louise said “Honey, Dinner is ready-“ Louise gasped at the sight of Duncan. Louise asked “What happened???” Duncan says “The usual, don’t worry about it darling.” Louise said “Duncan!” Duncan stood still quietly, he knew Louise was serious when she calls his name instead of “Honey.” Louise said “Duncan, I don’t know what you’re doing but... it needs to stop!” Duncan says “What are you talking about?” Louise says “Don’t play dumb, Duncan! You’re abusing your job status to do violent things, aren’t you? You’ve started to be like this ever since you got promoted!” Duncan got angry. He said “You don’t have ANY idea what I do at my fucking job, Louise. Stop accusing me of shit!” Louise said “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to get you angry. Honey, just talk to me! Tell me what’s happening with you lately.” Duncan stared at her. Louise said “Honey... please. I don’t know what’s going on with you lately but.... we can fix things, okay? I know you’re not a bad person, you can trust me-“ Duncan cuts her off and says “Nothing is going on, Louise. Stop!” Duncan went upstairs and left her._

_One day Duncan got suspended from his job. He was caught using violence against an unarmed suspect. He was suspended from his job for 3 months. Duncan started to lose his mind. He always used his job as an excuse to avoid Louise and be violent. Louise started to see Duncan even less than before, she knew this was intentional because Duncan was still suspended from his job. He had no reason to be around less. Duncan proceeded to get worse at this point. He would come home late and drunk on purpose just to avoid Louise’s confrontations. He would take out his anger on drunk bums and beat them up even though they did nothing wrong, he would get into bar fights and beat drunk guys up, only to be kicked out by security afterwards. Louise got on her knees and prayed every night that Duncan would change and that their marriage will improve for the better. She tried her best to convince Duncan to come to church with her on Sundays and confess his sins. Duncan would just yell at her, saying he’s not religious and that god can’t do anything for him. Louise even tried booking a therapist for him but Duncan roughed up and kicked out the therapist. Then one day Louise went to do laundry and found a bloody knife wrapped in between the clothes. She jumped up and screamed. Her hand was covering her mouth, she was in shock. She started to wonder what Duncan did with it. Louise waited till Duncan got home and confronted him about it. Duncan came through the door drunk to the boot and angry but Louise didn’t care. She yelled at him, asking him **Why did the knife have blood on it?** and **Why was it inside the laundry basket?** Duncan couldn’t take it anymore so he hit her really hard. Duncan angrily muttered something under his drunken breath and left the house. Louise couldn’t believe Duncan would hit her like that, she thought to herself **This isn’t the man that I knew... this isn’t the man I married.** she started to breakdown crying. She didn’t know what to do so she called Duncan’s colleague, Officer Mac. Mac told her to calm down and that he will be on his way to her house. When he arrived Louise explained what happened, Mac offered his shoulder for Louise to cry on. Despite being overwhelmed Louise couldn’t bring herself to tell Mac about the bloody knife. She had only told him about Duncan’s actions. Mac told her he will do his best to help her._

_Mac confronted Duncan about Louise, he said “What the hell is wrong with you Duncan? Why did you hit Louise??” Duncan replied “Mind your own business! It’s nothing to do with you.” Mac says “Just to remind you I am a cop and she called me, so this does have something to do with me.” Duncan keeps quiet. Mac sighs and says “Listen man. I don’t want to get involved but if you continue to do something like this I may have no choice. You’ve been going downhill lately. I don’t want to see you like this. Just keep your emotions in check.” Mac leaves Duncan._

_Duncan got home and confronted Louise, he grabbed her and threw her on the couch, he yelled at her, saying “DID YOU TELL HIM ABOUT THE KNIFE? HUH???” Louise said “No! I didn’t! I swear!!!” Duncan said “You’re lying! STOP FUCKING LYING!” Louise yells back “I’M NOT LYING, FOR GOD SAKES!!! I could never do that to you Duncan. I love you too much to do that to you...” Duncan said “Good. Now if you tell Mac again I will make you regret it, do you understand?” Louise says “Yes... I understand!” despite Louise saying she didn’t talk about the knife because she loved him Duncan didn’t seem to give too much care for what she said._

_Mac went shopping one day and found Louise shopping at the same store. She looked miserable, she was never this sad before. Mac asked her if everything was okay and she said everything was fine. Mac didn’t believe her though. He suspected Duncan might’ve done something to her. He wouldn’t know unless Louise told him but she said nothing._

_Ever since then Louise has been avoiding confrontations with Duncan. He would come back home drunk, bloody, completely insane, and she wouldn’t say a word. She just prayed every day that he would come back to his senses, that he would be the Duncan she once knew, the Duncan she happily married. As she waited for the Duncan she knew to return, seeing him walk through the door like that everyday has made Louise unhappy and miserable._

_Some time has passed Duncan’s suspension was finally lifted and he returned to his job. Weeks went by and Mac started to suspect that Duncan was abusing his police status. Mac however had no evidence to back this up. He tried finding out from Duncan’s wife but she said she knew nothing. Mac decided to request the police chief keeps a close watch on Duncan. Duncan knew that Mac was onto him, he knew Mac requested to have surveillance on him and that Mac suspects his violence. So Duncan started to play Mac at his own game. He made sure not to do anything violent or incriminating for Mac to gain evidence of. After 2 weeks the police chief withdrew the surveillance that Mac had requested due to lack of evidence. Despite finding no evidence Mac still knew Duncan was up to something. Mac decided to take matters into his own hands and spy on Duncan’s whereabouts by himself._

_Mac followed Duncan to know what he’s up to after work. Mac wore a long black trench coat, a hat, and sunglasses to hide himself. Duncan stopped by his usual spot to go get a drink, as he was about to walk inside he notices through the glass door’s reflection that a strange man in a trench coat was following him. Duncan walked inside and hid around the corner. He peeped through the corner of the window. Duncan knew the guy was following him. Duncan ordered a mug of beer and took his time at the bar, after passing time he left the bar. Before walking out the bar he saw that the man was still there. Mac saw Duncan walking out of the bar and went after him. After a while following Duncan’s whereabouts Mac saw Duncan walk through a back alley. Duncan moved fast so Mac picked up pace. Mac went into the alleyway but he couldn’t see Duncan. Mac wondered where he went. Did he walk into a building? Did Duncan realize someone was following him? Mac thought to himself **How could he go so fast?** Mac walked down the alley just to make sure. After he found nothing he turned around, as he turned around Duncan was standing at the end of the alley. He was staring at him with a gun in his hand. The gun was pointed at him. Duncan says “You’re not very good at spying are you, Mac?” Mac froze in place. Mac thought to himself **How does he know it’s me???** Duncan says “You can take off the hat and glasses now, Mac.” Mac says “Duncan, what the hell are you doing?” Duncan says “I was about to ask you the same thing.” Mac said “Duncan, you know this isn’t necessary. Put the gun down!” Duncan ignores him and says “I know you were trying to find dirt on me.” Mac says “What?” Duncan says “Don’t act dumb. There was a reason you came to see me at the bar that day, you never go to that bar.” Mac says “I was there because I was concerned about you. Now please, put the gun down!” Duncan stands there silently while aiming the gun at him still. Mac says “You were using your job to be violent, weren’t you?” Duncan started smirking. Mac says “I was right...” Duncan says “Yes you were. Too bad you won’t be alive to expose it.” Duncan pulled the trigger. Mac fell to the ground. Duncan put the safety trigger back on and put the gun back in his holster. Duncan left the alleyway._

_Duncan went home after getting his hands dirty dealing with Mac. He didn’t drink heavy this time so he went home completely sober. He stepped through the door and threw his jacket on the coat rack. This time Duncan couldn’t smell any cooking in the kitchen like he usually does. He went to go in the kitchen and check, no food was made today. Duncan went upstairs to see if Louise is home. As he was going up he met Louise halfway up the stairway. Duncan said “I’m assuming you didn’t want dinner to go to waste again?” Louise looked at him, then her eyes diverted to the ground. Duncan says “I can eat today ya know. I didn’t go out and eat this time.” Louise said “Duncan...” Duncan says “What?” Louise saw that Duncan wasn’t drunk this time, she took his soberness as an opportunity to say what she wanted to say. Louise said “Duncan, lately things haven’t been right between us.” Duncan sighed. Louise said “No, listen! Your actions have been making me feel depressed lately... and I clearly get on your nerves a lot, so I think it’s best if...” Duncan says “Best if what?” Louise said “We get a divorce...” Duncan says “What??” Louise says “I’m sorry Duncan!” Duncan says “No... You must be divorcing me for another reason.” Louise said “What?” Duncan says “It’s for another man, isn’t it?” Louise said “What? No!” Duncan says “No? First you went on to tell me how much you loved me and now you want to divorce me. Weren’t you the one that said we’ll be together no matter what?” Louise says “Yes Duncan but you made ‘Together forever’ hard by changing into a different person. There was only so much I could take!” Duncan says “Louise! Listen to me... I know I’m a shit husband to you, but please... Don’t do this!” Louise says “Duncan...” Duncan says “It’s the bloody knife, isn’t it? You think I killed someone with it, don’t you? Well I didn’t! I stabbed them but they’re not dead!” Louise says “Duncan, it’s not that only!” Duncan says “It’s not? Because it’s only now you’re saying this... Just be honest and tell me what it is!” Louise sighed. Duncan says “It’s another man?” Louise said “No!” Duncan says “Are you sure? How comes you’re fully dressed like you’re about to go out?” Louise says “Duncan, what do you take me for? I’m not that kind of woman!” Louise’s phone started ringing, Louise paused for a moment. Duncan looked at Louise and noticed that she wasn’t going to pick up her phone. Duncan went up the rest of the stairs to go get her phone in the bedroom. Louise ran after him and said “Duncan, wait! Just leave it!!”._

_Duncan barged through the bedroom, he noticed Louise had bags and suitcases packed on the floor. The phone stopped ringing. Duncan walked over to look who called. It was Louise’s friend. Louise stood by the bedroom door. Duncan said “So... you were going to leave without me?” Louise said “I’ve already made up my mind Duncan.” Louise got a text message on her phone, it was a message from her friend. Duncan picked up her phone. Louise ran towards him and said “Hey, don’t read that!” she fought trying to grab her phone back from him but Duncan was too tall. Duncan read the message. It said “Louise! Let me know when the police guy picks you up. I’m not at my house right now but will be back soon!” Duncan looks at Louise, Louise looks nervous. Duncan says “Who is this ‘Police guy’ she’s talking about? Is it Mac?” Louise says “Duncan...” Duncan says “You were having a thing with Mac, weren’t you? That’s why he was the first person you called, right?” Louise said “No Duncan! I’m so sick of this...” Louise walked out of the room, she was about to go downstairs. Duncan followed her. He grabs her and pushes her against the wall. He says “Where the fuck do you think you’re going, Louise?” Louise says “I’m tired of you Duncan. You made me absolutely miserable! The man I once married 5 years ago is gone!” Duncan said “Is this why you started fucking Mac? Because I’m not satisfactory to you anymore???” Louise stayed silent for a moment. She then said “Pastor Howard was right... You really are possessed by a demon. May God help you find your soul, Duncan.” Duncan grabbed Louise, he started yelling at her. He said “God this God that. JUST SHUT THE FUCK UP LOUISE! God couldn’t help me, God couldn’t save this shit show of a marriage, heh... God couldn’t save that piece of shit Mac either.” Louise said “What do you mean God couldn’t save Mac? What did you do to Mac???” Duncan said “I killed him. Put a bullet through his brain. I watched his blood create a pool on the ground. It felt so good pulling the trigger and watching his body fall to the ground.” Louise started crying, she tried to wriggle her way out of Duncan’s hold. Louise yelled “LET GO OF ME DUNCAN! YOU’RE SICK!! YOU’RE THE BIGGEST MISTAKE I’VE EVER MADE IN MY LIFE!!!” Duncan got angry and upset at her words, he threw her down the stairs. Louise fell down the stairs really hard. Duncan was furious, he was breathing hard. After a while he realized Louise hasn’t moved. Duncan walked down stairs, he said “Get up!” Louise still didn’t move. He then yelled “I SAID, GET UP!” Duncan then looked closer. Louise’s eyes were open, her neck looked twisted. It looked like Louise broke her neck falling down the stairs. Duncan says “Louise...” Duncan touched her neck, there was no pulse. Duncan started tearing up. He started to cry. Duncan picked up Louise body, he said “Louise! Louise!!! I’m sorry, Honey. I’m so sorry!!!” his tears fell onto her pale face. Duncan says “Louise... please forgive me.”._

_Duncan called the police. Two cops came to the house. The front door was already open so they walked in. Duncan was sitting on the stairs with tears in his eyes. One of the cops said “I’m sorry Officer Duncan. May I ask what happened to your wife?” Duncan says “She’s dead.” the Officer says “We can see that sir... I’m asking what happened.” Duncan said “I killed her...” the two cops looked at each other. One of the cops pulled out his cuffs, he says “Sir, please stand up, turn around, and put your hands behind your head.” Duncan complied with the Officer. The Officer cuffed Duncan, he said “I’m sure you know about remaining silent and court of law stuff so I’ll leave it at that.” the cop walked Duncan to the car and put him inside. Duncan was taken to the police station._

_Duncan was locked up in the detention center until a court trial was set. On the day of the trial Duncan confessed to all of his crimes, including abusing his status as a Police Officer, wrongfully harming innocent people, and murdering Officer Mac. Despite the death of his wife being an accident he also claimed that he murdered her as well. The judge decided to sentence Duncan for 40 years in prison. Duncan didn’t care that he practically had to spend all his life in prison. Duncan didn’t really care about his other crimes either. He only felt guilty about Louise. He confessed his other crimes because he felt like he deserves life in prison for killing Louise. He started to regret how bad he treated her all this time, how she stood by his side despite his terrible ways. Duncan knew that he will never love another woman like how he loved Louise._

_Duncan was sent to prison. During his time in prison Duncan just felt like an empty shell moving around. Day after day he would do the same routine. Wake up, eat, sleep, and repeat. He didn’t interact with anyone and he didn’t care to. The other prisoners would trash talk him, bump into him on purpose, and give him a dirty glare just to evoke a reaction from him. However he didn’t give the reaction they wanted. He just acted cold and quiet. One day, 4 prisoners approached him in the courtyard. Duncan was lifting dumbbells to maintain his physique. A prisoner said “Sup, punk.” Duncan ignored him. The prisoner grabs his shoulder and says “Ay Dickhead, I’m talking to you!” Duncan drops his dumbbells and turns his head to look. It was 4 rugged looking prisoners. They looked ripped with muscles. One of them was standing in front, he must be the leader. One of the prisoners behind him said “Ooo, look at him! He looks mad at you, Q!” Q said “Is that so?” he stares Duncan up and down, Duncan stares right at his face. Q says “You really think you’re hot shit, don’t you dickhead?” Duncan kept quiet. The 2nd prisoner says “This fucker really thinks he’s above us, huh. First he doesn’t interact with anyone and now he thinks he’s too good to talk to us.” Q stares at Duncan. Duncan is not reacting. Q says “Come on dickhead, don’t act like you’re high and mighty and shit. We know you killed your wife.” the 3rd prisoner says “He must’ve really gotten sick of her, huh.” The 4th prisoner says “Maybe she didn’t give enough pussy, hahaha.” Duncan started fuming inside despite looking calm on the outside, but what was said next is what pushed Duncan over his limit. Q says “Oh... I get it. She cheated on you, is that it?” Duncan’s face twitched, it was barely a reaction but it was enough to make Q want to continue. Duncan knew deep down that his wife didn’t cheat. He was just too stubborn to accept that Louise would leave him for any other reason. The 3rd prisoner says “Hahaha, he’s a cuck!” Q says “Damn, what a whore. Did it feel good killing the bitch? It better cuz 40 years ain’t worth it, dawg.” Duncan clenched his fist and punched Q in the face. The other 3 prisoners came at Duncan. Duncan punches one of them in the throat. The other 2 grabs Duncan and start punching him. Duncan breaks loose of their hold and grabs a dumbbell. He swings the dumbbell at them. They dodged the dumbbell and fell to the ground. Q gets back up from the ground and pulls a knife from his pocket. He swings his knife left and right towards Duncan, trying to slash at him. The knife catches Duncan’s arm, Duncan has a big slit in his upper arm gushing with blood. The prisoner he knocked down with a dumbbell gets up and grabs Duncan from behind to restrain him. Q says “Hold him there, I’m gonna cut this fucker!” Q quickly approached Duncan to slash his throat. Duncan successfully breaks his way out of the prisoner’s hold. Duncan quickly dodges and grabs Q’s arm, he twists his arm and stabs him in the eye. The other 3 prisoners saw what happened and tried to dive onto Duncan. A group of prison guards came charging towards them and beat the 5 of them down with batons. All prisoners were taken away and sent into solitary confinement._

_After being locked up in solitary for days Duncan went back to the usual routine, though he still wasn’t over what Q and his gang said about his wife. What happened several days ago would’ve gotten worse if it wasn’t for those prison guards intervening. He wanted to severely harm those guys. Duncan went to eat lunch at the prison’s cafeteria. While he went to take a seat he saw the 4 prisoners across the other table. They were all looking at him. Q was wearing an eye patch on the area that Duncan stabbed. A prisoner came over to Duncan and sat next to him, he said “You fucked him up pretty good.” Duncan turned to see who was speaking. It was a prisoner wearing a black medical mask with a skull and bones printed on it. The masked prisoner says “Name’s Jeff. And if you’re wondering who those fuckers are, those fuckers are the top dogs of this prison. No one has ever fucked with Q but you got balls.” Duncan eats and keeps silent. Jeff says “I’d advise you to watch your back. Pretty sure they’re out to kill you now.” Duncan says “Is that a threat?” Jeff says “Nope. I’m telling ya what they want to do, as a heads up.” Jeff chows down on some bread. Duncan glances over at the prisoners, they were still watching him._

_It was work time and Duncan was assigned to do the laundry and wash prison uniforms. Everyone was wrapping up and finishing their work to return to their cell. Duncan was the last one to finish. As he was finished Q walked into the laundry room with a crowbar in his hand. Duncan turned around and look at him, Q was alone surprisingly. Duncan wondered why his gang wasn’t with him. Q pointed to his eye patch and said “You see this? You will pay for this, Motherfucker!” Q lunged at Duncan with the crowbar, Duncan dodged. Q wrecked the prison uniforms and ironing boards swinging his crowbar around trying to hit Duncan. Duncan kicked the crowbar out of his hand. Q lunges his fists towards Duncan but Duncan dodged again and punched him down. Q fell to the ground. He wiped the blood off of his mouth and said “Is that all you got fucker? Your wife is still a cheating slut, a dead cheating slut that is.” Duncan grabbed his crowbar and charged at him. Q tried to block him but he got overpowered by his raging strength. Duncan smashed Q’s head a couple times with the crowbar. Duncan dropped the crowbar to the ground. He stares at Q’s dead body while breathing hard. Jeff walks into the room and says “Woah. Holy shit! That dude’s head is fucked!!” Duncan looked at Jeff and quickly picked up the crowbar. Jeff says “Chill dude! I didn’t come here to harm ya.” Duncan says “What the fuck are you doing here?” Jeff says “To check on ya, dude. I already said those dudes want you dead but I didn’t think you’d take out the big dog!” Duncan stares at Jeff suspiciously. Jeff says “You’re gonna need to hide the body before the guards find out you did it. Put on some gloves, stuff the body in that giant laundry basket, throw the crowbar in there, and toss bleach on the crowbar. It won’t hide the murder but it will destroy any evidence of you killing him.” Duncan says “Why are you helping me?” Jeff says “Because you’re the only one that successfully killed the motherfucking big dog and bully of the goddamn prison. Why wouldn’t I?” Jeff walked over and held up half of Q’s body, Jeff says “Ya doing this or not?” Duncan held up the other half of Q’s body and tossed him in the basket. Duncan then tossed the crowbar in there along with some bleach. Jeff says “Now let’s quickly cleanup and get back to the cell before anyone suspects shit.” they both leave the laundry room._

_Duncan was lying on his bed while locked in his cell. He could hear prison guards talking and searching. He knew it was to do with Q but Duncan wasn’t bothered. He was staring up at the ceiling while thinking. After smashing Q’s head with that crowbar, something has sparked inside of Duncan, a feeling that felt new to him. Until he realized that this feeling wasn’t new, it wasn’t new at all. It was his sadistic feelings coming back again. He had the feeling to wreak havoc, the need to commit violence, and the desire to satisfy his psychotic tendencies._

_Although Duncan didn’t ask for it, Jeff somehow became a companion to him. Next morning Duncan went to the courtyard, Jeff came over to workout with him. Jeff said “Ay boss.” Duncan says “Just because I killed the ‘big dog’ I’m suddenly the boss now?” Jeff says “No. But you could become one.” Duncan says “And why would I want that?” Jeff says “Oh there are plenty reasons. You can get weapons, drugs, booze, and get people to do shit for you. There will be more assholes trying to take you down but once you deal with ‘em like how you did with the big dog you’ll be the most feared in prison.” Duncan didn’t care about having a high status but what sparked his interest was becoming a target to other inmates. He has an undeniable thirst for blood right now and would love the negative attention. However, Duncan got suspicious. Duncan asks “And why would you want me to get the same position as the last person you despised?” Jeff says “I figured you would get suspicious, it’s good that you are.” Duncan stared at him silently, waiting for him to answer his question. Jeff says “Look, I saw how dangerous you were when you took on those 4 assholes. Unlike them you were a way dangerous threat than the 4 of them combined. That’s the type of person I rather be allied with than be an enemy.” Duncan says “So you want to be on my good side?” Jeff says “Yup. Now do you still want it or not?” Duncan stayed silent for a moment. He then said “Alright.” Jeff says “Alright, cool. Now the first thing you’ll need is cigarettes.” Duncan says “Cigarettes? Why?” Jeff says “That’s our prison’s currency. Get cigarettes and buy shit. I know a bastard that has a lot of ‘em but we may need to beat the fucker.” Duncan says “Show him to me.” Jeff says “Will do. Oh, and by the way. Watch your back with the other 3 members of the gang. I’m sure they’ll suspect that you did something to Q sooner or later.” Duncan kept a lookout for them._

_Jeff brought Duncan to the prisoner that hoards cigarettes. Jeff called for him and asked if they can come inside his cell to talk. The prisoner went by the name gold tooth Dan, or just Dan for short. He has that name because of the gold tooth in his mouth. Dan didn’t really seem comfortable around Duncan. He kept looking at him and asking Jeff what purpose does he have here. Jeff told him that Duncan took out Q and that Q’s goons are still out to get him. Dan didn’t believe Jeff at first. He said “Bullshit. Q is a tough fucker to kill, especially with his goons. Anyone that tried got fucked up, so how is he the only one that did it?” Jeff says “I’m surprised too, my dude. Dude got his head smashed like a watermelon.” It took a while to finally sink into Dan’s head that Duncan must be very dangerous if he took out Q just like that. However this didn’t make Dan feel any better about Duncan. Dan asked Jeff what business he has here. Jeff proposed that they formed a gang and take over before someone finds out that Q is dead and tries to take over first. But in order to do this he needs to help out with cigarettes. As soon as cigarettes came into the question Dan was very unwilling. Dan says “Fuck nah. I worked hard to get this shit. And a guard told me if I collect enough of it I could get hooked up with some good pussy. So get your own cigs if you need to buy shit.” Jeff says “You made a bad decision, Dan. You coulda been a part of our gang if you weren’t so stupid.” Dan started to sweat. He saw Duncan walking up to him. He got into a defensive stance against whatever Duncan was about to do. Before Dan could even react Duncan grabbed a hold of him and slammed his head into a wall. Dan was out cold. Jeff says “Quick, let’s get his cigs and bounce!” after they grabbed his cigarettes Jeff wanted to store the cigs in his cell. Duncan opposed him and told him to put the cigs in his cell instead, he didn’t trust Jeff._

_Throughout the day Jeff and Duncan have been doing trades to get weapons and other forms of contraband. They got their items from some weird guy with a mawhawk. Duncan wondered **How does he even sneak this stuff into the prison?** He didn’t really bother to ask. Duncan got a switchblade from him. After the end of the day Jeff told Duncan to rest up because tomorrow was going to be a big day. Everyone returned back to their cells. Duncan still doesn’t know Jeff’s motive for helping him but he imagines it’s not very good. Either way Duncan knew that no one else really has his back besides himself._

_Next morning Duncan got woken up by the prison alarm. It was shower time. Duncan cleaned up and got ready to meet Jeff at the area he suggested. While in the locker room changing into his prison uniform 3 of Q’s goons showed up. The only ones in the locker room were Duncan and the 3 gang members. All of Q’s goons had knives in their hand. They all stood there surrounding him. No words were said. After a moment of silence one of them lunged at him with a knife. Duncan swiftly dodged his knife attack and pulled out his switchblade. Duncan slashed the prisoner’s throat. The other 2 prisoners charged at him with their knives. Duncan dodges all of their attempts to slash at him. He grabs one of them and stabs them in the guts repeatedly. Only one was left standing. Duncan says “You can run ya know. It ain’t too late.” the last prisoner was tempted yet hesitant. He thought to himself **Is it worth losing my life over?** After some time contemplating the prisoner chose to walk away. As he walks away Duncan grabs his head and slits his throat from behind. Duncan heard a noise coming from the back of the locker, he went to go check it out. He went to the back and found nothing. Duncan then felt a presence behind him. He quickly turned around and grabbed whoever was behind him. He pinned them to a wall and pressed the switchblade up to their neck. It was Jeff. Duncan says “I knew I couldn’t trust you!” Jeff says “The fuck you talking about man? I ain’t doing anything!!” Duncan yells “WHY WERE YOU SNEAKING IN? It was to finish me off, isn’t it? ISN’T IT??” Jeff yells “FUCK NO. Why would I fuck around with someone that took out 3 grown ass gorillas with knives?” Duncan says “To get me to do your dirty work. You wanted me to take out Q and his gang so you could finish me off right after.” Jeff says “I don’t blame ya thinking that way. But that’s not it dude. You can think of this as stupid or some shit but the reason why I’m even helping you is to become your goon. I always wanted to be a part of a gang where I can do whatever and get whatever shit I want just because I’m associated.” Duncan says “You expect me to believe that crap? Everyone wants to become a leader.” Jeff says “Ya? Well I don’t. I’m not cut out for that kinda shit. Was hoping that helping you out would gain some kinda trust but then again I can’t blame ya for not trusting me.” Duncan stayed silent. He still kept Jeff pinned to the wall. Jeff says “Dude, you damn well know that even if I did betray you I’ll just end up dead like the rest of those fuckers. You already know you don’t need me for shit.” Duncan takes the switchblade away from his neck and lets him go. Duncan felt confused on whether he could trust Jeff or not. Jeff says “I’m going to need your blade to clean any proof of you using it.” Duncan saw this as an opportunity to see what Jeff does with it. Duncan gave Jeff the switchblade and watched him carefully. Jeff just wiped the blade off with chemicals to get rid of blood and fingerprints. He then handed it back to Duncan. Jeff says “We gotta go before the guards catch us here.” Jeff left the locker room._

_Ever since Q and his gang’s deaths have been known to the prison prisoners would try to take over to become the next big dog. Duncan however won’t allow this to happen. This makes Duncan a big obstacle for the other prisoners. Every other day a prisoner would try challenging him. Duncan enjoyed this because this meant for him that he can do his worse without needing to hide under a police badge. Depending on his mood Duncan would beat, torture, or just straight up murder those who even tried to harm him. Of course doing this wouldn’t go unnoticed by prison guards but Duncan got Jeff to handle it. Some corrupt prison guards would turn a blind eye for some packs of cigarettes and other favors. Though they could only turn a blind eye to some things, not everything can be avoided or ignored. However, Jeff had Duncan’s back and made sure he did not get caught even if he were under suspicions. One day Jeff reminded Duncan to form a gang and become the big dog for his own needs, however Duncan declined and said he preferred to go it alone. Duncan still had some trust issues with Jeff so he felt safer being alone. Jeff would sometimes provide things to Duncan even though he never asks for it. Duncan got very confused by Jeff. He wondered if he was really doing this just to kiss ass and get on his good side or if he’s really just good at lying and being patient waiting for the right moment to strike. Either way Duncan tried not to bother his mind about it._

_**5 years later.** _

_5 years has passed in prison but to Duncan it felt longer, but not long enough. As those years went by Duncan got reminded why he ended up here in prison. All the guilt that got overshadowed by sadistic psychotic feelings started to come back. He felt like shit again. He didn’t care to commit violence as much as he used to anymore. Thanks to his reputation of being the most dangerous prisoner inside the prison, every prisoner was wary of Duncan and refused to cross his path. His reputation made him have little to no confrontations for a fight. He also didn’t really have trust issues with Jeff anymore. Jeff seemed true to his word when he told Duncan he only wanted to associate with him for the reputation. After a long time thinking about it Duncan decided to get Jeff to form the gang he talked about some years back. Jeff told him that it took him long enough and he went ahead with his plans. The first person Jeff had recruited was Dan. Despite it being so long Dan was still salty about the cigarette situation. He still joined just to not be on Duncan’s bad side. Jeff had also recruited 2 other prisoners into the gang. A prisoner who had big bucked teeth and the mawhawked hair prisoner that provided goods. At this point Jeff had built a solid gang for Duncan, though Duncan tends to neglect them or not use them for anything._

_One day Duncan was wondering around the prison. He stood over the balcony while thinking. With Duncan’s new gang and his dangerous reputation his goons thought that Duncan as a leader should start making a name for himself. 4 of his goons came up behind him. Jeff said “Hey boss, since you’re the big dog in prison now shouldn’t you give yourself a name?” Duncan said “What?” Dan says “Usually bosses go by a name instead of their real one. Ya know, it’s a way to look cooler and scarier or some shit.” Duncan kept silent for a moment. Duncan says “Alright.” Duncan turned around to look at them. He says “From now on, I am known as Duke.” the prisoners looked at him and nodded._

_**8 years later.** _

_Years went by in prison and Duncan who is now known as Duke was the most feared big dog in prison. Despite his reputation and rough image the other prisoners didn’t realize how broken Duke really was. Over the years he became less violent and more cold and isolated. Duke was resting on the bed while thinking about Louise. Nothing but regret and sorrow was pouring through his mind. Then he heard shouts and screams coming from downstairs. He assumed that a prison riot may have been provoked again. But for some reason this time felt different. Duke got up from his bed and stood by the prison door, he peeped through the bars and looked down to see what was happening. He saw both prisoners and guards running, but what were they running from? Duke noticed some of the prisoners and guards were dived on by what looked to be dead-ish looking people. Duke said to himself “What the fuck?” Jeff ran up to Duke’s cell, Duke asked “Jeff, what the fuck is happening?” Jeff said “Boss, its zombies! Crazy shit, I know. But we need to get the fuck out of here!!” Jeff unlocked his cell. Duke looks downstairs then looks at Jeff with confusion. Duke didn’t bother to question it and they both went with the rest of the gang to escape from the back of the prison. They beaten and pushed away any guards that tried to stop them._

_Duke and his goons got out of there with some of the other prisoners. Duke was still in disbelief at what he saw but he was more in disbelief of how he is practically free from prison now. The other inmates were happy and kind of thankful those zombies came in to save the day but Duke however didn’t feel the same. He was still guilty about Louise. He felt like 13 years wasn’t enough punishment for him. Jeff pat him on the back and said “Boss, stop daydreamin. We got a lil problem...” Duke turned around and said “What?” the mawhawk hair prisoner said “Well, we’re free but it looks like those dead freaks fucked the place up...” Dan says “We also got some prisoners with us, should we ditch em or nah?” Duke stood there and started thinking for a moment. There was too much going on in his mind. After a moment Duke came to a decision on what to do._

_Duke had basically created a team of raiders. Duke got his prisoners who are now raiders to steal from shops and hoard supplies to survive. Duke also found a factory he and his gang could call a base. It required a bit of cleaning from the dead factory workers who were now flesh eating dead people but overall Duke considered it an ideal place. Things have moved fast considering Duke had to think and do all this within a short timeframe in order to survive. Despite being a free man Duke still felt weight on his shoulders. One day Duke decided to grab his keys and drive off in his pickup truck. Jeff wondered where he was going but he didn’t say, all he did was tell Jeff to take charge for the rest of the day. While driving he witnessed chaos erupting everywhere. People were being taken down and eaten alive. Some who survived were running away with supplies. Some people would notice Duke and try to flag him down, asking him to pick them up and drive them to safety. Duke just ignored them and continued on to his destination. After he arrived at his destination Duke stepped out of the truck. He was at the cemetery. Before being set for trial he remembered overhearing some cops mentioning where Louise’s burial was held. He remembered the location and kept it in his mind for years. And now he’s finally here. Duke walked around the cemetery looking for Louise’s grave. After a bit of searching Duke found where she was buried. For a moment he was lost in thought. He kneeled down in front of her grave and rested his hand on her gravestone. He thought about all his memories with her. He thought how happy he was with her. How she looked so happy with her big bright smile. Duke started to tear up a bit. Duke says “Louise... please forgive me!” he wiped his eyes and continued “I’ll try and make it up to you, don’t worry!” he sniffs “I’ll try my best to redeem myself and become a better person for you. It won’t be easy for me... it may take time...” Duke stood up while looking at her grave. He hung his head low in sorrow when walking away. Before he got back in his truck he turned around and looked at her grave one more time. Duke then noticed a few zombies were roaming around the cemetery. He thought about pulling out his gun and shooting them but he decided to leave them. He got back into his truck and drove away._

* * *

The crew was still on the road late in the afternoon. They didn’t want to stop or slow down in fear of being tracked. However, they needed to refill their energy after what happened so they stopped for a short while and shared what little scraps they could between each other. They immediately went back on a move straight after. Ally and Valeria were sitting next to each other in the hummer. Ally says “I still wonder if Eric is okay.” Valeria replies “Well we won’t know. We needed to keep ourselves safe so...” Ally says “Yeah I know.” the two of them went silent. Carl heard and felt a rumble from behind. He looked through the rear windshield to see what it was. Carl said “Uh, guys...” Bailey asks “What?” Carl says “I think we have company.” they all looked through the rear window. It was the raiders. There was a big truck behind the crew followed along with bikes, jeeps, and pickup trucks. Jacob says “How the fuck did they find us? We went so far!!” Angelina says “Don’t know but you guys need to buckle up.” she slams her foot on accelerate to speed up. The raiders yelled at them, threatening to shoot if they don’t stop. Angelina ignored them and went faster. The raiders pulled out their guns and started opening fire. The crew ducked down to avoid getting shot. Yuki started barking. Angelina turned off road to dodge the raiders. Some of the jeeps and pickup trucks followed. The bikes and the big truck stayed on road. Angelina took a few sharp turns to shake them off their tail. Some of the vehicles crashed into obstacles while trying to catch up. After bullets stopped flying Carl took a look. He says “We lost them!!” Angelina says “Let’s not feel relieved too quick. We literally drove away from these bastards for 17 hours and they found us already!” Valeria says “Right? We need to get out of this area entirely.” Angelina says “That’s the intention.” Angelina drove back on the road. As they went further ahead they started seeing zombies roaming again. Ally says “I don’t like this...” Carl asks “Why?” Ally says “If they find us again and these zombies are around it could get bad for us.” Angelina says “Shit!” Ally asks “What?” Angelina says “Look!” the crew were apparently approaching a barrier. It was heavily secured with thick iron bars and spiked wires. It wasn’t something Angelina could simply drive through. Angelina parked up the hummer right in front of the barrier. She says “We need to unblock this barrier if we want to leave the area.” she reached her arms to the back to grab a weapon. Ally says “What about the zombies?” Angelina says “We take them out if they come close.” Jacob says “Let’s go. We can’t wait around to be tracked again.” almost everyone grabbed a weapon and left the hummer except for Ally, Carl, and Molly. Yuki also stayed in the car. Ally says “I’ll stay here to protect Molly.” and Carl says “I’ll keep guard!” Bailey says “Yeah right. More like you’re scared and feel safer in the hummer.” Carl says “No! That’s not it!” Bailey says “Sure.”.

They started to work on unblocking the barrier. They went back and forth to the hummer to grab tools for the barrier. They cut away the wires and dragged obstacles out of the way. Anna looked in Isabella’s direction, she was standing there looking nervous and scared. Anna says “Are you okay?” Isabella says “Yeah... I just want to keep a lookout for zombies while you do this.” Anna says “Okay.” she continued to clear the barrier while Isabella kept watch. Angelina says “Alright, we’ve cleared enough I think. We just need to move this bar.” Jacob asks “Can’t you drive through it?” Angelina says “No. This iron bar will completely destroy the front of the hummer!” Bailey says “It’s powered by a control pad though. We can’t get it up manually.” Jacob says “Then we’ll find the control.” Jacob walked into the small building next to the barrier to find the control pad. A zombie tried to follow behind Jacob. Bailey walked over and smashed it in the head with the butt of her gun. Isabella makes a frightened gasping sound. Anna asks “Isabella, what’s wrong?” Isabella says “T- th- The r- Raiders...” they looked into the direction Isabella was looking. The raiders were coming full force with all of their vehicles. Angelina says “SHIT!” Jacob pokes his head out of the door and says “What? Raiders?” Anna says “Yes...” Jacob says “Fuck.” Bailey asks “What do we do?” Jacob says “Fuck it. We need to ram this stupid barrier and get out of here.” Angelina says “No, we can’t! This iron bar will totally destroy the hummer and then we’ll be screwed either way. We’ll have to fight instead.” Jacob says “What? Are you insane? Those bastards will kill us! We need to get out of here, NOW!!” Valeria asks “Can’t we just run?” Angelina says “We won’t make it.” Jacob says “Can we stop fucking arguing already? THEY’RE APPROACHING QUICKLY!” everyone looked at Anna. Angelina says “Anna, you’ll have to choose. Fast.” Anna feels the weight on her shoulders. She was forced to make a decision. Whatever decision she makes will be the fate of the crew. Anna lowers her head and takes a deep breath. Anna raises her head, she says “We fight.” she loads her gun and aims. Jacob says “What? A-“ the raiders blocked off their path. They stopped their pickup trucks, jeeps and bikes in all corners, leaving the crew no room to escape.

The big truck stopped right in the middle of the road just opposite the hummer. The passenger seat of the truck opens. The crew could see a foot step out of the truck. It was Duke. Angelina says “Of course it’s this douche bag.” Duke says “Did you really think you could escape? Heh.” Jacob says “You must be a sick obsessed asshole to have chased us down all the way this far.” the masked raider says “Shut the fuck up and drop your weapons.” Duke says “Now now, Jeff. Let them talk, I enjoy exchanging a few words before getting down to business.” Angelina says “We have nothing to talk about. Now back off!” Duke says “Or what? Are the 6 of you... or should I say 9 of you gonna take out all 15+ of us?” Duke did have a lot of raiders with him. Jacob swallowed hard. Unlike before where there were 6 of them, they have the entire crew now. That also includes a child. Angelina walks up close behind Anna and says “Anna, you need to tell us when to shoot...” Duke says “Anna, is that your name? Girl in the pink.” Anna stays silent. Duke says “Why don’t we compromise again, huh? I’m sure you don’t want blood to be spilled...” Angelina yells “FUCK OFF! You’ve already spilled blood...” she starts to rage after remembering how Duke killed Molly’s father. Duke says “Not talking to ya. Now, what do you say, pink girl?” Anna stares at him with anger, she feels no urge to step down now. Isabella says “Anna...” Isabella started to panic. She felt her anxiety kicking in. She was trembling and had thoughts racing through her mind. Deep down she didn’t want Anna to commit to the fight. She was afraid of lives being lost, especially Anna’s life. Duke notices Anna is not fearing like the way she did before, he sees that she is determined to fight. Duke says “I see...” Anna yells “NOW!” the group opened fire.

The raiders took cover behind their car doors and opened fire back at them. Jacob and Bailey took cover behind the left side of the hummer. Valeria was alone taking cover on the right side. Anna and Angelina ducked down and took cover behind a giant dumpster. Isabella screams. Her entire body felt numb, like she couldn’t move. The sound of bullets were muffled and compressed in her ears. Everything looked slow motion in her eyes. She could watch the bullets fly across right in front of her. Her heart was racing but her reaction was blank. Anna looked out for her crew to check if they were okay. Then she saw Isabella standing in open air behind a vehicle. Isabella had no weapon in hand. Anna yelled “ISABELLA! GET DOWN!” Anna saw that Isabella was having an anxiety attack. Anna ran after Isabella. Angelina says “Anna! No! You’ll get yourself killed!!” Anna saw that a few raiders noticed Isabella standing there. They were aiming to shoot her. Anna shot back at them to prevent the action. As Anna approached close to Isabella to get her to duck, a raider fired at Anna. Anna got shot in the thigh. She screams in pain and falls to the ground. Isabella snapped out of her dazed state as she saw Anna lying on the ground. She started to cry and panic. Angelina yells “SHIT!” she got up and moved away from the dumpster. She attempted to cover Anna and get her to safety. Angelina yells “HOLD ON ANNA!” Angelina shot at the raiders while moving in towards Anna. The gold tooth raider popped his head out from behind the truck. He saw Angelina running towards Anna. Ally takes a peek out of the window. She saw the gold tooth raider. Ally yells to Angelina “LOOK OUT!” the raider shot Angelina in the shoulder, Angelina fell to the ground. Angelina said “Shit, that fucking hurts!” while groaning in pain.

Valeria yells “GUYS, DON’T MOVE! THEY CAN’T SHOOT YOU FROM THERE BECAUSE YOU’RE TOO LOW!” the two of them stayed in place. Anna looked up at Isabella to see if she was okay. She was crouching behind the broken down car with her arms covering her head, she looked like she was having a panic attack still. The raiders kept shooting at the hummer, trying to get the crew that was hiding behind it. Molly was screaming and crying in the hummer as she heard bullets constantly hitting the vehicle. Ally tried her best to calm her down, telling her it was okay and that we’ll get through this. It didn’t help Molly calm down. Yuki was barking and scratching at the door. She wanted to get out and help them fight. Jacob says “Fuck. This is getting too much!” Bailey says “We have to do something!” Jacob says “Do what? We’re already down 2 people and our bullets are limited!” Bailey says “We’ll have to cause a distraction...” Jacob says “No! You’ll get shot too!” Bailey says “We can’t stay here until we run out!” Bailey was about to get up from her crouching position. Jacob grabs her arm and says “Bailey, No! I almost lost you once... if you do this I might lose you for real!” Bailey’s eyebrows furrow. She felt bad but at the same time she knew she needed to do this. Bailey pulled her arm out of Jacob’s grasp and made a run for it. She yelled “HEY ASSHOLES! COME GET ME, BITCHES!!!” while rapidly firing bullets at them. Jacob couldn’t take the thought of losing her, he yelled to Carl, saying “CARL! You have to help the others, I gotta keep Bailey safe!” Carl says “Wh-“ Jacob wasted no time, he ran straight after her to protect her. Carl quickly opened the hood of the hummer and grabbed a hold of the gun on the roof. He was scared and trembling. He opened fire at the raiders while yelling in fear. There was a large building right in front of the whole gun fight. Bailey ran through the front balcony while ducking. Jacob followed closely behind her. The raiders shot bullets at them. It missed Jacob and Bailey and shattered the glass windows of the building. Jacob and Bailey ran around the back of the building. Duke yelled “GO AFTER THEM! Shoot them if you have to!” the raiders ran after Jacob and Bailey. Angelina saw the raiders running after Jacob and Bailey. Despite the injury of her shoulder she slid over behind a light pole and reloaded her gun. She opened fire at the raiders chasing Jacob and Bailey. Her aim was inaccurate and shaky but she managed to shoot one of them in the leg. Anna saw that Angelina was making an effort to fight, she tried to move and open fire as well. Angelina says “Anna, don’t! I got this!”.

Jacob and Bailey ran behind the back of the building and straight through an open fountain. Bailey says “Why the fuck did you follow me? The others are injured! They need you!” Jacob says “I got Carl to cover them for me.” Bailey says “That Chubby? Jacob, you know how incompetent Carl can be!” Jacob grabs Bailey’s arm and says “I’m not leaving you Bailey! You mean so much to me...” Bailey says “Jacob...” Bailey heard shots being fired at them. Jacob yells “RUN!” Jacob and Bailey ran from the raiders that were chasing and shooting at them. They both tried to shoot back at them but they ran out of bullets. They continued running past the back of buildings to try and lose them. Jacob notices a large shed in the distance. He grabs Bailey’s arm and says “Over here!” they ran towards the shed. Jacob bashes the lock open with the butt of his gun, they both ran inside. Jacob locks up the shed from the inside. Jacob says “It’s too dark in here. I can’t see shit.” Bailey searches for something they could use to see with. She finds a lantern. Bailey says “Here!” she lights up the lantern. Jacob says “Let’s hope it lasts until we leave this shed.” Bailey says “We can’t stay here forever you know. The others are still fighting out there!” Jacob says “I know but we have no bullets and we need to shake these bastards off of us! Just give it a few minutes at least Bailey.” Bailey says “We don’t have a few minutes to spare. They could die in a few minutes!” Jacob says “Bailey, if we go out there and get shot they will die anyway.” Bailey sighs with frustration. Jacob says “Bailey, I’m sure they can hold for a little longer. Just wait!” Bailey doesn’t respond. She sits down angrily in front of the lantern.

Anna managed to position herself to join the fight. Carl’s gun stopped firing bullets. The raiders started firing at him after he stopped. Carl ducked back inside the hummer, he yells “I RAN OUT OF AMMO!” Valeria says “Same!” Angelina says “Shit, I don’t have much left either! Anna?” Anna says “I still have some but it’s not much.” Valeria says “We’ve used all these bullets and haven’t shot a single one of them...” Duke came out from hiding, he says “Well well well, looks like you’re running out of bullets. Are you regretting not surrendering?” Anna says “We won’t surrender to you, Duke.” Duke says “I had no intention of letting you live even if you did surrender. You fucked up by escaping and this is what you get.” Duke reloaded his gun, he asks “Any last words?” Angelina says “Yeah, choke on a dick and die!” Duke kept silent. He waved his hand, signaling to the raiders to go in and kill them. Isabella says “Anna... I think they’re coming for us...” Anna says “I know. I’m sorry Isabella. I’m sorry I couldn’t protect you...” Isabella says “No! Don’t be sorry!! It’s my fault for not being prepared...” Ally held tight onto Molly, hugging her and keeping her close. Yuki started whimpering. The raiders moved up to them, they were about to open fire. Angelina closed her eyes. Guns started to go off and bullets were flying everywhere. Angelina opened her eyes and looked. A bunch of people wearing protective gear came in and started shooting the raiders. The raiders went down one by one. Duke ran behind the truck to take cover.

Duke yelled “WHAT THE FUCK? WHO ARE THEY?” the masked raider says “I don’t know boss but they just wiped out our entire fucking gang!” Duke asks “Where the fuck are the others?” the masked raider says “Probably still chasing those rats.” Duke says “Goddamn it!” the masked raider says “Heheh, I always thought that if I were to die one day it would either be by prison inmates or zombies. Turns out it was just people.” Duke says “The fuck are you on about, Jeff?” the masked raider says “I’m saying Yolo, boss.” Jeff ran in shooting the people wearing heavy gear. He shot at some of them but the bullets were blocked by their armor. Jeff got shot to death. Duke was the only one left. Duke yelled “Shit. Jeff you fucking idiot! God...” Duke knew he had no other choice but to step out there next. Almost all of his gang is dead and the others are nowhere to be seen. Duke walked out with his hands up. The people wearing protective gear stood and looked at him while aiming their guns. Duke then lowered his arms and started firing at them. He had guns hiding in the sleeves of his long coat. The people wearing protective gear rapidly opened fire at Duke. Duke got shot multiple times, he fell to the ground. Duke’s view started to get hazy. He started to have flashbacks of Louise. He could see Louise smiling, lending her hand out to him and telling him **It’s okay!** Duncan lightly smiled. Then his breathing stopped. Angelina was staring in shock. One of the people wearing the heavy gear walked up to the crew. They removed their mask, it was a woman. The woman says to them “It’s okay, you’re safe now!”.

Jacob and Bailey were sitting in front of the lantern. They were facing opposite each other. Bailey says “It’s been a few minutes now, we need to go!” Jacob grabs her hand and says “Wait! Shhh!!” they could hear raiders outside. They were searching around for them. Jacob knew that if the raiders find them inside the shed it’s over. Jacob whispers to Bailey “This was why I said we shouldn’t go yet.” for the next 5 minutes Jacob and Bailey kept quiet. The raiders were roaming around looking. Fortunately they haven’t searched the shed but they were consuming a lot of time having Jacob and Bailey stay closed up in there. After a while the noise from the raiders stopped. Bailey says “We need to go...” Jacob says “I know but it still might not be safe out there!” Bailey says “There is no more noise from them!” Jacob says “It doesn’t mean its safe!” Bailey says “I’m going.” Jacob grabs her hand again and says “Bailey!” Bailey pulls her arm away from him. Jacob says “Why are you so stubborn?” Bailey says “Why are you such a coward? Do you want the others to be killed???” Jacob says “I’m worried about them just as much as I’m worried about you!” Bailey says “It doesn’t look like it. You worry about safety too much, Jacob.” Jacob says “Well I wouldn’t have to worry about safety if we didn’t leave the villa...” Bailey says “Oh now you wanna bring that up?” Jacob says “You know I’m right. If we have stayed we wouldn’t be in this shit right now.” Bailey says “So you’re blaming me?” Jacob says “Yes, I am blaming you!” Bailey says “Even if we had stayed it wouldn’t have made a difference. Besides, the others agreed on leaving anyway.” Jacob says “It would have made a difference! We wouldn’t be fucking caught right now.” Bailey says “Well what do you want me to do about it now? Say I’m sorry? Turn back time? Tell me, what do you want me to fucking do?” Jacob says “Stay alive.” Bailey says “What?” Jacob says “I want you to stay alive.” he walked over and hugged Bailey. Bailey froze still. She was surprised how emotional Jacob got. Bailey says “Jacob, I know you’re afraid. But we have to go...” Jacob kept quiet and held onto her a little longer. He finally let go and said “Alright.” Bailey stares at him. Jacob held her hand and walked with her to the shed’s door. He opened up the door and left with her.

Both of them stepped outside. The coast was clear. Bailey says “Come on, we gotta pick up pace and make it back to them!” as they started running their way back bullets were being fired at them again. A raider said “There they are! Get them!” they fired at them some more. Jacob and Bailey ran behind a building for cover. Bailey yells “GODDAMN IT!” Jacob says “When will these fuckers quit?” the 3 raiders moved in closer. After a short moment Jacob and Bailey noticed the bullets stopped firing. One of the raiders said “Shit! I’m outta of bullets, Dan!” the gold tooth raider says “Well shit, looks like we need to deal with them the old fashion way.” Jacob noticed a steel pipe leaning against the wall. He picks up the steel pipe and tells Bailey to follow him. The two of them move behind walls to get around the raiders. One of the raiders said “Where the fuck did they go? They ain’t here anymore.” another raider spotted them trying to escape past the fence. The raiders ran after them. Jacob and Bailey started running. Bailey looked back, the raiders were catching up to them. Bailey says “They’re gaining on us!” Jacob looked and saw that they were getting closer. He thought to himself that there was no way they could both escape.

Jacob says “Bailey, go! I’ll handle them!” Bailey says “Jacob!!!” Jacob says “I’ll be okay! Just help the others.” as the raiders approach Jacob he took a swing at them, Jacob knocked one of them over the head. The other 2 raiders grabbed Jacob and started beating him down. Bailey looked back and saw Jacob getting attacked. Bailey couldn’t leave Jacob alone like this. She grabbed the lid of the trashcan and ran in to help him. She got the trashcan lid and bashed one of the raiders on their head. Jacob managed to crawl his way over and grabbed his steel pipe again. The gold tooth raider grabbed Bailey and threw her on the ground. Jacob was about to run in behind the gold tooth raider and hit him on the head. Jacob was stopped by the other 2 raiders. Bailey quickly got back up. She threw punches and kicks at the gold tooth raider. The gold tooth raider punched her in the face. Jacob yelled “BAILEY!” Jacob got kicked down the other raiders. Bailey’s nose was bleeding. She crawled on the floor, trying to grab back her strength. While crawling she got kicked in the back really hard by the raider. Bailey groaned in pain while holding her back. The gold tooth raider says “Fancy seeing you again while beating your ass up. It’s a shame I have to smash your pretty face. I would’ve preferred smashing you instead if ya know what I mean. Hahaha.” Bailey says “Ugh, you’re a disgusting fucking pig!” he grabbed her and slapped her down. He says “Shut up, bitch. You should be begging for your life right now. Bailey held her face. She looked in Jacob’s direction, Jacob was badly injured. Bailey got her hair grabbed. Bailey gritted her teeth trying to make the raider let go of her hair. The gold tooth raider says “Actually, before I kill ya I gotta do something first, Heheh.” Bailey started screaming. Jacob looked in Bailey’s direction. Jacob thought to himself **God knows what would happen to Bailey if I died right here right now.** Jacob snapped.

He slid his arm on the ground and grabbed his steel pipe again. He got the steel pipe and rammed it into one of the raider’s eye. The raider was yelling in pain. The other raider grabbed Jacob from behind. Jacob got his fist and punched his balls. The raider let go of Jacob. Jacob swiftly moved over to the other raider that had the steel pipe in his eye. Jacob forced the steel pipe deeper into his eye, causing his brain to be damaged. Jacob quickly pulled the pipe out of his face and turned around. He ran to the other raider that was cupping his hands over his crotch in pain. Jacob rams the steel pipe into his guts. He pulls out the pipe and leaves him to bleed. Jacob finally turned his attention to the gold tooth raider. The raider was trying to pin Bailey down. Jacob ran over to him and whacked him over the head with a steel pipe. The raider tried to get back up but Jacob hits him again. Jacob started beating him with the pipe, hitting him on his ribs and his back. After being beaten down the gold tooth raider says “Kid! Stop Please! I give up!!!” Jacob stopped and looked at him. The gold tooth raider says “Augh... Damn you beat me down pretty good for a kid...” Jacob says “You have the fucking nerve to beg me to stop when you had no intention of stopping when you wanted to kill me... or when you wanted to rape Bailey...” the gold tooth raider says “Look, I know I fucked up but... Augh... give me a second chance man! You could be the better man in this situation!” Jacob says “Go to fucking hell! GO STRAIGHT TO HELL YOU FUCKING BASTARD!!!” Jacob got his steel bar and whacked him over the head. Jacob went insane and started smashing his head with the pipe repeatedly. He smashed his head nonstop until his head got bloody and mushy. Bailey was on her knees to the ground, her eyes were opened wide, staring at the gory scene in shock. Jacob wouldn’t stop. The raider’s entire face was gone. All that was left was red. Bailey couldn’t take it anymore. She got up from the ground and quickly grabbed Jacob. She wrapped her arms around his waist and said “JACOB! Please, stop! He’s dead already!” Jacob swung the pipe up one more time and froze. Bailey says “Jacob, please... You don’t need to do this anymore! I’m here! I’m safe!” Jacob snapped out of it. He looked down and realized the bloody mess he has created. His entire shirt was covered in blood and he had blood splatters on his face. Jacob dropped the steel bar. He turns around and hugs Bailey, Bailey hugs him back, but Bailey also feels frightened. She was shocked to see Jacob snap like that. He was literally insane. The people wearing protective gear came running into the area. Jacob and Bailey turned around and looked at them. Jacob got defensive and made Bailey stand behind him. Anna came running in, saying “Jacob, Bailey! It’s okay! These people came to help us!” Jacob and Bailey looked at each other in confusion. They didn’t know who these people were but they trusted what Anna told them. Jacob and Bailey went with the people to go to safety.


	11. One problem after another

6:30 AM.

Anna was sleeping on a warm cozy bed. She tightly held her fluffy pillow against her face. The bed was so soft it felt like she was sinking into a cloud. Anna opened her eyes and saw the bright sunlight peeping through the gap of her curtains. The room was decorated with bright white and cream colored walls and furniture. Anna looked around the room with her sleepy half-closed eyes. Then she realized where she was and said to herself **This isn’t real. It’s just a dream...** she reminded herself that she is still surviving in the apocalypse and that the colorful cozy room she was sleeping in isn’t real. Anna closed her eyes and said to herself **Wake up, Anna!** Trying to make herself snap out of her dream state. A couple minutes went by and she still felt awake. She then felt a bit of discomfort in her right thigh. Anna pulled away the sheets to look. Her thigh had a bandage wrapped around it. Anna then realized that she wasn’t dreaming, she actually was in a warm cozy room. It reminded her of home. Anna swung her legs over the bed and sat up at the side. Anna tried to stand up but she ended up falling back onto the bed. Her right leg was too numb to walk on. Anna was about to call for help but she noticed a pair of crutches were lying right beside her bed. She only needed one to walk with so she picked one up. She walked out of the bedroom.

She entered a big hallway. There were many doors down the hall. Anna made her way down to the end of the hall to go downstairs, while making her way there she passed a bedroom door that was half open. She peeped inside to see who was in there, it was Angelina. A woman who looked to be a medic was checking on her shoulder where she was shot. Anna lightly tapped on the door and asked if she could come in. Angelina says “Sure, of course you can!” Anna entered the room. The female medic said “Ah, you’re awake! You were so exhausted yesterday you passed out as soon as I pulled the bullet out of your thigh! I had to bandage you up and get you carried to your room, your friend took care of the rest.” Anna says “Oh.” the female medic says “My name is Cameron by the way! I’ll leave you to talk to your friend.” Cameron left the room.

Anna asked Angelina “How is your shoulder?” Angelina says “It’s fine. Cameron said I’ll have to wear an arm brace though. How’s your leg?” Anna says “It feels uncomfortable but I’m okay.” Angelina says “Ah. Cameron had a hard time getting the bullet out, so maybe that’s why.” Anna asks “Why was it hard to get out?” Angelina replied “She said the bullet was pretty deep, so...” Anna says “Ah, okay. Also, do you remember what happened last night? I don’t remember much at all...” Angelina says “That’s because you passed out as soon as you got here. What woke you up was removing the bullet but even then you fell asleep after that got taken care of.” Anna asks “Do you know where we are?” Angelina says “Apparently we’re in a community run by a military Commander.” Anna says “Really?” Angelina says “Yeah. It’s mostly people who work in the military but they have survivors here too.” Anna asks “Where are the others?” Angelina says “They’re here. Everyone has their own room and stuff. It’s pretty crazy how they just gave it to us just like that.” Anna says “Yeah.” Angelina says “What’s crazier is other survivors were put into smaller houses but somehow we were put into the large house. I’m not sure if you knew but this place is practically a mansion! I wonder what they found special about us to bring us here.” Anna says “I don’t know but I’d be more suspicious than excited.” Angelina says “I don’t think we should worry too much, they are the military. Besides, we can always ask the Commander himself when he comes to see us later.” Anna says “The Commander is visiting us?? Angelina says “Yeah, both him and his wife. They want us to all be together too.” Anna says “I’ll take a shower now since I didn’t get the chance to yesterday. Where do we meet by the way?” Angelina says “I don’t know. They just told us that they’ll let us know.” Anna says “Alright. I’ll see you later then!” Angelina says “See ya, Anna.”.

Jacob was sitting on his bed thinking. He reached behind him and pulled out the gun he has tucked inside behind his jeans. Jacob stares at the gun while fiddling with it. He doesn’t really know why he still has this gun. It’s the same gun he shot Matthew with, but yet he still keeps it. For some reason he can’t really let it go. It’s the only item he has left that even connects to Matthew. It’s like a memory to him, but a bad one. Jacob tosses his gun onto the bed. He then throws himself back onto the bed, laying on his back while staring at the ceiling. Jacob thinks about how he almost lost Bailey. He started having bad thoughts. **What would’ve happened if I didn’t follow her?** His bad thoughts got deeper. He felt a shiver in his spine. Jacob quickly sat up and shrugged off the thought. He rubs his face and tells himself **I shouldn’t think about things like that. What matters is she’s safe now.** Jacob then starts to wonder what Bailey is up to and how she’s doing. He grabbed his gun and buried it in the drawer. He walks out his bedroom and closes the door.

The community looked like a modern village-like neighborhood. Houses, an infirmary, and other building structures were there. The people also started doing a farm to keep food production going during the apocalypse. The crops however haven’t grown fully yet since they just began growing. Cameron was just leaving a house where she checked on the health of an elderly couple. She walked back to her infirmary where she took care of the injured. She walked through the community full of busy people making a living. While going to her infirmary she saw a man wearing a fancy suit. He was walking around the garden. He picked a flower and smelled it. Cameron has not seen this guy before, she got curious and approached him. She says “You don’t look familiar, are you new around here?” the man turned around to look at her. She reached out her hand for a handshake and said “My name is Cameron. I work as a medic at the local infirmary.” the man says “Ah, Cameron. Such a nice name! My name is Richard.” he shakes her hand and smiles.

Cameron says “You didn’t answer my question by the way.” Richard says “Oh, my bad! Yes I am new around here. Thankfully these military people saved me. Though I didn’t recognize they were military because of the chemical safety gear they were wearing.” Cameron says “They wear those against the zombies, it’s in case they get bitten. They’re also bulletproof!” Richard says “Really? Why would they need to be bulletproof though? It’s not like zombies can shoot guns, Hahaha.” Cameron says “Ahahah, I know. It’s actually against those raiders, well... was against them. I heard they got wiped out recently.” Richard says “Really? No way...” Cameron asks “Did you know them?” Richard pauses for a moment. He didn’t want to say “Yes.” and get questioned. Richard says “Uh... No. But I have heard about them!” Cameron says “Well, lucky you didn’t. I heard they were merciless and kill anyone who doesn’t obey them. They have actually killed a lot of people... it’s a shame they couldn’t be saved.” Richard gets the idea that those **People** she’s talking about might be the crew that ditched him. He starts to smirk a little bit.

Cameron says “I should get going. I have other survivors to take care of.” Richard says “Okay, it was nice talking to you!” Cameron says “You too! Oh, and you should meet the new survivors we brought here yesterday! We like to keep the community friendly.” Richard says “I’ll make sure to introduce myself if I see them.” Cameron says “Okay, thanks. See you, Richard!” Richard says “Bye bye!” Richard thinks to himself **Hm, if I build a reputation here maybe I can start my life all over again!** He has a big grin on his face while he spins around in the garden.

Jacob knocks on Bailey’s door. Bailey says “Come in!” Jacob enters the room. Bailey was lying down front ways on her bed. She was wearing a long silky pajama dress, it kind of caught Jacob off guard. Bailey asks “What are you looking at?” Jacob says “Um, nothing.” Bailey says “If you’re wondering why I’m laying down like this it’s because my back still hurts from yesterday.” Jacob says “Oh... right.” Bailey says “Unless...” she gets up off the bed and stands up, she says in a low tone “you’re looking at something else?” she says this while walking up in front of him. Jacob swallows hard. Jacob couldn’t really contain himself anymore. He grabs Bailey and dives on top of her onto the bed. Bailey says “Ow, my back still hurts, you know! Don’t put so much weight on me!” Jacob says “Sorry!” he lifts weight off of her by resting on his knees, straddling over her. Jacob says “It’s gonna be your birthday tomorrow.” Bailey says “You still remember!” Jacob says “Of course I do.” Bailey had a big grin on her face.

Then they stared at each other for a moment. Bailey touches his face, she says “Your injuries are healing fast.” Jacob says “Yeah...” Bailey says “I’m glad you’re okay, Jacob. I really am.” Jacob touches her hand she has on his face, he says “I’m even more glad that you’re okay, Bailey.” they smile at each other gently. Then Bailey’s smile drops, she says “Sigh. To be honest, I don’t think you realize how scared I was... seeing you get beaten like that... it was horrifying for me.” Jacob says “I thought I was going to lose you! It was bad enough seeing you have a knife to your neck and getting voted for death. Then you just ran out there risking your life, I was worried shitless for you!” Bailey started to sob.

Bailey says “Wh- What made me more scared was...” she sniffed “How you turned... Jacob, you looked like you were insane!” Jacob says “I was angry. I felt enraged seeing you hurt like that. Bailey, after I saw you being beaten like that it was the last straw for me. My mind went blank and all I wanted was for them to die!” Jacob starts to tear up a little, he wipes Bailey’s tears. He says “Bailey, don’t ever do that again! I don’t want you running out there and throwing your life away like that. Don’t ever frighten me like that again! Promise me!!!” Bailey says “I promise.” Jacob leans down and hugs her, they held onto each other tight. Jacob lifts his head up, breaking out of the hug. Jacob and Bailey stared at each other. Then Jacob’s eyes started moving down, he was staring at her lips. Bailey saw where he was looking and opened her lips slightly as a signal for him to go for the kiss. Jacob leans in slowly. Their lips are about to touch. Then a knock was heard on Bailey’s door.

They both got startled by the knock. Jacob got up off of her. Bailey also got off the bed and stood up. Bailey says “Umm, come in!” the door opens. The entire crew came into her room, including Molly and Yuki. Valeria says excitedly in a high pitch voice “Hi Bailey!” Valeria and Molly sat on Bailey’s bed, Valeria brought Yuki onto her lap. Ally sat by the window sill. Angelina sat on the chair and Anna decided to stand. Angelina says “Oh, Jacob. It’s good you’re here already, we were about to call you.” Jacob asks “For what?” Anna says “For a group reunion! We’re safe now so we can talk freely now too!” Jacob says “I guess.” Bailey asks “Anna, Angelina, how is your wounds?” Angelina says “We’re both doing well. Anna has to walk with a clutch and I have to wear an arm brace.” Carl says “Yo! We all have so much to tell you.” Ally says “Yeah, especially about this place. It’s so cool!” Valeria says “They gave Yuki a bath and fed her good! Now Yuki looks so happy and feels like she’s home. I can’t thank these random people enough!” Ally says “Molly got to play with other kids and make friends. There are lots of toys for the kids to play with too.” Carl says “And they upgraded our hummer a freaking lot! Armor, weapons, everything! It’s some really high tech military stuff. It’s crazy!!!” Anna says “About that... Angelina and I were suspicious about how these people let us stay in a house that’s practically a mansion.” Carl says “These guys are military. I don’t think we have anything to worry about.” Anna says “But don’t you think it’s suspicious that other survivors are put into smaller houses in the community and we aren’t?” Jacob says “You have a point.” Bailey says “No need to be suspicious. I already know why we’re put into the mansion.” Angelina says “You do??” Bailey says “Yeah. It’s something I never really wanted to mention but I guess there is no hiding it now. My-“ Bailey got interrupted.

Two people came to her bedroom. The bedroom door was left open so they walked in without notice. It was a man and woman wearing military uniforms. The man had badges on his uniform. He looked to be of some high ranking. Isabella gasps when she sees them walk in. Angelina recognized the woman wearing the uniform. She was the same woman who took off her mask and told the crew **You’re safe now.** when the team rescued them. The woman says “Bailey!” Bailey says “Mom!” Bailey ran to her and hugged her. Jacob says “Huh? “Mom”? Your parents work for the military?” Bailey let go of her mom and said “Yeah.” Bailey’s mother said “Yes. My name is Dolores.” she looks to the man next to her “This is my husband, Henry.” Bailey turned around and looked to her dad. He was very stoned face and looked serious. Bailey didn’t feel so comfortable talking to him for some reason, she says “Dad.” he says “Bailey.” the crew notice that their interaction was awkward. Henry asks “Who are these people?” Bailey says “My friends.” he says “Some of these people look older than you. Do these “friends” happen to be random people you found in the apocalypse?” Bailey says “Most of them, why?” he says “You of all people should know not to trust strangers. I taught you this!” Bailey says “I can take care of myself, Dad. Besides, they were there when you weren’t!” Dolores says “Bailey! Your father tried to send help to you but we were having a breakout situation at our base.” Bailey says “Yeah? Well trying isn’t enough! Stop treating me like a kid that doesn’t know anything!” Henry says “You get treated like a kid because you are a kid!” Henry walks out of her bedroom. Bailey gets angry. Dolores says “Bailey, I know you don’t get along with your Father but try to at least, okay?” Dolores gives her a kiss on the cheek and leaves the room, she shuts the door behind her. Bailey says “Hmph. Not even a “How are you? Are you okay? Or even a sorry for not being there! What a freaking jerk!” Angelina says “You didn’t tell us you were the Daughter of a military Commander!” Bailey says “I didn’t tell you for that specific reason you just saw.” Carl says “So that’s why we’re in the mansion?” Bailey says “Yeah but it’s more like because of my Mom. My Dad wouldn’t do it even if he knew you guys were my friends.” Jacob says “Daddy issues, huh.” Bailey says “Yup.” she sighs. Angelina says “Welp, we’re gonna leave you to blow off some steam.” everyone left the room except Jacob, Jacob says “I’ll talk to you later, alright?” Bailey says “Okay. Bye.” Jacob leaves.

Angelina got curious about what Carl said about the hummer. She went to the local garage to see what condition it was in. When she entered the garage she said “Whoahhh!” the hummer was completely revamped. The armor was changed, the wheels were bigger with spikes sticking out at the side, the windows that were shattered were replaced with bulletproof windows, and the machine gun on the roof was upgraded. But what impressed Angelina more was the hummer had spikes added to the bumper and the seats were changed to be cozier. Carl walked into the garage, he says “It’s awesome, isn’t it?” Angelina says “Hell yeah. The entire thing is pimped out!” Angelina looked around the garage a little bit. She saw Valeria and Molly in the distance playing fetch with Yuki. Carl asks “Don’t you wanna sit inside and see how it’s like?” Angelina says “Okay.” she opened the door and sat inside. She says “I’m gonna enjoy this a lot.” Carl says “If you think this is all then you should check out the trunk.” Carl walked to the back, Angelina followed behind. Carl opened up the back of the hummer, it was stacked with guns and explosives. Angelina says “No fucking way! This is for us?” Carl says “Yup.” Angelina says “That’s insane!” Carl says “I know, right? It’s like I never want to leave this place now.” Angelina says “Wait, if we’re staying here then why would they give us all this?” Carl says “Huh?” Angelina says “Think about it for a second. If we’ll be here why are they decking out our vehicle? They have enough food and supplies here and the military workers are the ones providing it. So why would they upgrade our vehicle if we won’t need to leave?” Carl says “I don’t really know... I think you’re just thinking too deep into it.” Angelina says “Maybe you’re right. Perhaps Bailey’s Mom is just doing something genuine for us as a thanks for helping her Daughter survive.” Carl says “Yeah.” Angelina says “I’m gonna go check on Ally.” Carl says “Alright, see ya.”.

Ally passed by a local shop while exploring the community. Ally wondered why a shop existed here since money no longer has a use in the apocalypse. She entered the shop and asked the shopkeeper “Hey, what currency do you people use in the community? I thought money has no use in the apocalypse anymore.” the shopkeeper said “You aren’t wrong. We don’t really use a specific currency. What people do is bring in food, scraps, and other valuable items in return for other items. Kinda like a pawn shop really.” Ally says “That’s interesting.” the shopkeeper says “There are only 2 shops in this community. Mine and a woman’s just down the street. We both tend to get different items so be sure to check both if you can’t find the item you want.” Ally says “I’ll make sure to.” the shopkeeper asked “Did you want anything?” Ally says “Oh, no. I was just curious.” the shopkeeper says “Alrighty. Well thanks for passing by to check out my shop. I’m open at 8 and close at 9 for 5 days a week. I’m not around on the weekends. Well... I am but just in my house instead of the shop.” Ally says “Okay. Well, bye!” the shop keeper said “Bye!” Ally walked out of the shop and took a left turn. When she turned left Richard came walking down from the right. Richard entered the shop. Ally and Richard did not see each other.

Ally was heading back to the mansion. While walking she ran into Angelina. Angelina says “Hey! Do you wanna hangout?” Ally says “Sure.” Angelina says “Let’s talk in the garden.” Angelina and Ally went to the backyard garden. When they entered the garden Ally asked “What’s up?” Angelina says “I just wanted to talk. We never had time to have a long talk. Especially after that kidnapping incident...” Ally says “Oh right.” Angelina says “So tell me what happened when you, Valeria, and Molly were alone?” Ally says “To be honest nothing much happened but it was pretty horrifying. We were trying to find shelter at night and a zombie lashed out at me.” Angelina says “Oof, that’s scary. Were you alright?” Ally says “Yeah but they’re so strong at night. We did find shelter in the end though. It was in an abandoned basement.” Angelina says “That’s good.” Ally says “We were really contemplating on whether to go in and risk rescuing you, or just keep ourselves safe. If Eric didn’t show up I don’t know what we would’ve done...” Angelina says “It’s actually scary how we had two close calls. What would even happen if this Eric guy didn’t show up? Or if the military didn’t come in to help us...” Ally says “Yeah, the thought gives me shivers.” Angelina asks “How did you even meet Eric?” Ally says “He kinda just approached us out of nowhere. I think I’ve already explained this while we were driving.” Angelina says “Yeah, you did.” Ally says “It still irks me that we never knew who he was or what was his motive. What bothers me even more is if he’s even still alive or not. He literally just disappeared!” Angelina says “Well I don’t think he’s dead. No random guy would risk his life like that if he didn’t know what he was doing.” Ally says “Yeah. You’re probably right.” they both kept silent for a moment while walking around the garden.

Ally says “You haven’t told me your side of the story yet. What happened when you were held hostage by raiders?” Angelina says “Ugh, do you really want to know? Those motherfuckers were absolutely horrible!” Ally asks “Were they really as bad as the rumors say?” Angelina says “They starved us, made us get dehydrated, talked shit to us. They also have beaten the shit out of Jacob. A lot of them acted REALLY creepy around us too.” Ally says “That’s so messed up...” Angelina says “Not only that but they forced us out like dogs in the hot sun just to scavenge. Poor Isabella collapsed under dehydration.” Ally says “Oh no! Nothing bad happened to her, right?” Angelina says “Fortunately no but it took a hell of an effort to make those bastards give her water, if it wasn’t for... gosh.” Ally says “What?” Angelina says “There was this guy... named Bruce. He helped me help Isabella. I swear if it wasn’t for that evil bastard he would still be alive...” Ally asks “Who? What happened?” Angelina says “Basically that asshole you saw named “Duke” was pissed that we didn’t bring back enough food. He made us play some kind of sick roulette to choose who dies. He even said if we don’t choose one he will kill three of us instead. So Bruce came in and begged that he didn’t kill anyone, he promised to bring more food next time, and that if we don’t then he will take all responsibility for punishment. Then Duke stabbed him and made him bleed out right in front of all of us.” Ally says “I’m sorry you guys went through that. If we had make it earlier maybe this Bruce guy would still be alive.” Angelina says “That’s not the worst part.” Ally says “Huh?” Angelina clenches her fist. Angelina looked around first to make sure Molly was not in earshot. Angelina says “Bruce was Molly’s father.” Ally stares in shock. Ally says “I... I feel so bad... poor Molly.” Angelina says “I was so sad and furious. God, if I had the opportunity to kill Duke myself I would make his death more brutal than getting shot a dozen times.” Ally says “Is her mom still alive?” Angelina says “Bruce told me she got bitten. She left before she turned.” Ally says “So Molly’s parents are dead...” Angelina says “Yes...” Ally says “Man, this is so sad... Does he know we have Molly?” Angelina says “Fortunately yes, he knew before he died.” she continues “Whatever you do don’t tell Molly, not now. If you tell Valeria about it make sure she doesn’t tell Molly.” Ally says “Okay, I’ll let her know not to.” they both went silent again. Ally says “I wonder how the raiders found us. Or what would’ve happened if we didn’t know about Bruce.” Angelina says “They didn’t find us, they were told about us.” Ally says “What? By who?” Angelina says “Richard. That cunt sold us out! Anyone of us could’ve fucking died!” Ally says “He’s such an evil bastard.” Angelina says “He better hope I don’t find him again because I swear my rage for him is so strong I could kill him...” Ally says “I’m surprised he even survived this long. He was so useless without us. He’s probably been eaten by now.” Angelina says “Well I fucking hope so.” Ally says “On the bright side I’m glad we’re all safe now. Having you guys in that situation made me worried sick.” Angelina says “Ah, we were really worried about you too! Glad you guys are okay.” Ally smiles at Angelina, she smiled back.

Bailey was in her bedroom staring at the mirror while getting dressed to attend dinner with her parents. She hears a knock on the door, she asked “Who is it?” she hears Jacob’s voice. He says “It’s me.” Bailey says “Come in!” Jacob says “Oh, are you going somewhere?” Bailey says “Yeah, dinner with my parents.” Jacob says “Oh.” Bailey says “My Dad doesn’t want “strangers” at his table. He’s such an asshole, I swear!” Jacob says “Well now I know why our dinner was reserved separately. Ours is outdoors.” Bailey says “I know. I tried to convince him that you guys are fine but he’s so stubborn, it pisses me off.” Jacob says “It’s alright.” Bailey says “Not really. I’m going to try talking to him about it.” Jacob says “It’s not worth arguing over.” Bailey says “It’s not that, I’m talking about the way he is in general. He’s always been a control freak. It’s kinda the reason why I went to highshcool far away from him.” Jacob says “Oh.” Bailey says “I’m going to argue against him until he finally listens!” Jacob says “Good luck with that then.” Bailey says “Thanks.” Jacob says “You look nice by the way!” Bailey says “Thank you! This outfit would be complete if I still had the necklace you got for me...” Jacob says “You lost it?” Bailey says “I think those bastard raiders ripped it off of my neck. I don’t know. I was too afraid to notice to be honest.” Jacob says “Those pieces of shit!” Bailey says “It’s alright. I should get going now anyway. I don’t want to keep them waiting.” Jacob says “Alright. I’ll catch you later.” Jacob leaves the room, Bailey also leaves shortly after.

Bailey enters the dining room. Her mother and father were waiting for her. The maid started serving the food immediately after Bailey’s arrival. Bailey walked over and took a seat. She sits silently while alternating her head left and right staring at her mother and father. Bailey says “So what was the reason for not inviting my friends for dinner as well?” Henry says “I don’t invite people I don’t know to the table.” Bailey says “Well I know them.” Dolores quickly intercepts to not escalate things further, she says “Bailey, I think since we barely had time to share our stories and experiences to each other after the apocalypse I thought it was best if we keep this dinner family friendly.” Bailey says “But...” Dolores says “Bailey, please. We can invite your friends another time.” Bailey knew that the real reason why her friends aren’t here, it’s because of her father. And that her mother is doing her best to not escalate things into an argument. Bailey let the situation go. Everyone sat silent for a while. Bailey breaks the silence, asking “What happened to you guys when the outbreak began?” Dolores says “Many things. Our military base went on lockdown. We couldn’t get support from the other bases so we had to deal with it on our own.” Henry says “And we’ve lost many soldiers in the process.” Bailey says “Oh.” Dolores asks “Tell us more about you, darling. When we found you and your friends you looked like you were barely surviving, what happened?” Bailey says “It’s a long story. To cut it short I got together with other survivors and we escaped the school, then we were gathering supplies and trying to find other survivors. However, when looking for survivors we ran into the raiders and they caused hell for us.” Dolores says “Oh my... I hope they didn’t do horrible things to you!” Bailey says “They... killed someone right in front of us. They also beaten my friend and... Tried to do horrible things to me...” Dolores says “Oh my god...” Henry clenched his fist and slammed it on the table in anger.

He says “I’m glad I ordered my men to kill those bastards. They got what was coming to them!” Dolores says “You weren’t harmed, right?” Bailey says “They hit me several times but no worse than that.” Dolores says “Oh... my poor baby! I’m sorry I couldn’t be there to keep you safe...” Henry says “There was a reason why I wanted you to go to a school close by and not far into the city. We could’ve lost you!” Bailey says “Dad, you know very well I can take care of myself, you taught me how to. Besides, it was a good experience being away from my parents for a bit.” Henry says “It doesn’t matter! If you attended school near us you wouldn’t have been harmed.” Bailey says “Well I’ve met good people that fought for me and I’ve fought back for them!” Henry says “I wouldn’t be so quick to call them “good people” Bailey. Just because you were in the same survival group doesn’t mean they can be trusted.” Bailey says “Well I've known most of them from school already and the other half I didn't, but we put a lot of faith into each other which is why we're here now. Like I said, I can take care of myself.” Henry says “Well you sure don't act like you can. You got caught by raiders and almost got killed...” Bailey says “The raider situation couldn't be avoided! Stop acting like that's a reason to treat me like I'm incompetent! As I said, I have good friends to protect me and I protect them!” Henry says “It's unbelievable how much trust you put into a bunch of strangers you've only known for one day! You're about to turn 18 and yet you still act like a naive little child!” Bailey says “Well if you don't trust them then why don't you kick them out of the community? I know that you're just itching to do that. I would gladly go with them anyway!” Henry says “If I do kick them out I'll be making sure you'll stay here.” Dolores notices Bailey was beginning to get angry.

Bailey says "And why do you care so much that I leave? What if I wanted to leave anyway? You can't control what I want to do!!!" Henry says "Do you see how your daughter is behaving, Dolores? She wants to leave with a bunch of strangers and throw her life away right after she had her life saved!" Dolores says “Henry! Please put some trust into Bailey and her friends.” Henry says “You’re too soft, Dolores. You gave these strangers rooms inside our mansion and even revamped their vehicle with high tech military equipment that we will need. What were you even thinking??” Dolores says “It’s the best we could do as a thanks for keeping our little girl safe!” Henry says “By giving away important equipment? You don’t even know what they’re capable of doing with it.” Dolores says “To protect themselves against zombies and bad people of course!” Henry says “You don’t know them. For all you know any one of them could be an informant for those scumbag raiders!” Bailey has enough and loses it. She yells “SHUT UP! YOU DON’T KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT THEM!!! Were you there when we were surrounded by zombies and needed teamwork to make it out alive? Were you there when I got captured by raiders and they gave up EVERYTHING just to save my life? Were you there when I was put up for a vote for death and none of them voted for me or anyone in our group? They had MANY opportunities to have me killed and they took NONE OF THEM. So DON’T talk about my friends like you know them! Like I said, I would gladly leave with them than stay here and be with You!” Bailey got up to leave the dining room. Henry says “Watch your mouth when you’re talking to your Father, Bailey!” Dolores says “Darling! Wait!” Bailey walked out of the room. Dolores says “Henry...” Henry says “What?” Dolores says “You should apologize to her!” Henry says “I’m not sorry for telling her the truth. She's incompetent and needs to grow up.” Henry got up and left. Dolores sighs.

The crew had their meal on a large dinner table outside. Anna says “I wonder why Bailey and her parents couldn’t join us.” Angelina says “Maybe they wanted family time together.” Anna says “Yeah, maybe.” they continued to eat. After Jacob was finished eating his meal he went to see Bailey. Jacob walked his way upstairs and went down the hall. He walked up to her room and knocked on the door. Bailey says “Ugh... Who is it?” she said angrily. Jacob says “It’s me...” Bailey says “Sigh... Come in.” Jacob enters her room. She looked pissed. Jacob asks “What’s up?” Bailey says “My stupid Father. He doesn’t even show that he cares about me or my well being and then he proceeds to treat my friends like they’re not to be trusted. He even said that you guys might be working with the raiders! I was so pissed when he said that. He has NO idea what we went through...” Jacob says “Maybe he has trust issues or he’s protective over you.” Bailey says “No! He’s more like a control freak! Trust me. My Dad doesn’t let me do ANYTHING by myself. He’s been like this since I was little, always cold and harsh. It’s the reason why I’m closer to my mother actually. She actually cares and understands me.” Jacob looks at her. He could tell that she wasn’t only angry but also upset. He says something to cheer her up. He says “Hey, cheer up! It’s gonna be your 18th birthday tomorrow. We don’t want the birthday girl to be upset now, do we?” Bailey fiddles her hands together. Jacob says “And you’ll be able to have the whole crew at the table to celebrate!” Bailey starts to smile a little. Jacob says “There we go!” Bailey says “Pfft.” Jacob says “Well, you should get some rest. Tomorrow is your big day!” Bailey says “I suppose...” Jacob says “Goodnight!” Bailey replies back “Goodnight, Jacob!” Jacob closes the door and leaves.

A new day comes by. Today is Bailey’s special day. Everyone in the community was notified about Bailey’s birthday, including her friends. Ally has been gathering random scraps to trade for something at the shop. Anna and Isabella made plans to create the cake together. The others were still thinking about what to get for her. While preparing, Cameron came by to check Angelina and Anna for their injuries. Cameron says “Wow, you guys have been healing fast! You’ll still need to continue walking with a crutch though. Same for the arm brace, Angelina.” Angelina and Anna nods. Cameron says “Oh, I heard that the Commander’s Daughter has a birthday today.” Angelina says “Yeah. We have been preparing things for her.” Cameron says “That’s great! You know... When the team found you out there fighting raiders we also rescued a man the night before.” Anna says “Oh? Is he okay?” Cameron says “He’s doing well now. He looked awful when we first found him. He told me earlier that he’s coming over later to give his birthday wishes to the Commander’s Daughter. Maybe you guys could meet and get along! He seems like a nice guy.” Angelina says “I mean, sure. We’ll introduce ourselves.” Cameron says “You don’t sound too enthusiastic, are you not into meeting new faces?” Anna says “We are! I guess the kidnapping made us change a bit... But we’re still up for meeting any friendly faces on the way!” Cameron says “I completely understand! You don’t have to 100 percent follow the community rule about mingling with people. Just living your life and minding your business works too!” Angelina asks “Is that rule necessary though?” Cameron says “In my opinion? Not really. But they do this to avoid conflict and confrontation among the community. It’s how we keep together really...” Anna says “Oh.” Cameron says “Hah, the ironic thing is the military personnel here don’t follow the rules at all. I guess it only applies to the regulars.” Angelina says “I’ve been wondering, why are military soldiers here and not at the base?” Cameron says “Umm... I’m not supposed to share this kind of information since it may cause panic among the community but... Our base was destroyed by zombies during the outbreak.” Anna says “Really? Wow...” Cameron says “Yeah! We lost contact with the other soldiers, and because we had survivors to protect we resorted to moving here. We’re still in the process of making contact but no luck...” Angelina says “So we’re stranded here?” Cameron says “Yes and No. We could still move on our own but that could mean casualties. We’re taking a safer approach by making contact first. However, if we end up in a tacky situation then we’ll have no choice but to move.” Angelina says “Oh...” Cameron says “You don’t need to worry though! We’re in a position where we have enough supplies to last for months. We’ll be fine.” Cameron hears her alarm buzzer go off. Cameron says “Oops. I have to go! I’ll come by later to share my birthday wishes!” Angelina and Anna said “Bye!” Anna says “I need to begin the cake with Isabella, I’ll see you soon.” Angelina says “Alright, see ya!” they both split up.

Jacob wonders around the hallway thinking about what to get for Bailey. He didn’t want the present to be basic, but more like romantic. Jacob had just remembered he had the perfect present for that, a box of chocolates. It was simple yet romantic. However, when the raiders showed up he dropped them by accident. Jacob decided to go out and look for something. He didn’t know what to get but decided to go with whatever captures his eyes. As he was about to leave through the front door Bailey’s father shows up. Jacob freezes up and stares at him, he didn’t know how to act or what to say. He quickly stood straight and saluted the commander while saying “Morning, sir!” Henry looks at him weirdly. Henry asks “Are you a soldier?” Jacob says “W- What?” Henry says “I said, are you a soldier?” Jacob swallows hard, he says “No sir...” Henry raises his voice, saying “Then why are you standing there saluting like you’ve got a stick up your ass? Move it, boy!” Jacob felt embarrassed, he quickly left the house. Henry mutters under his breath “Stupid kid.” and continues about his business. Jacob felt embarrassed. He kept asking himself why he acted weird like that. He thought to himself that he could’ve just said “Good morning, sir!” and left it at that. He also realized what Bailey really meant about her father being an ass, he really was an ass.

After walking some distance while thinking, he didn’t realize he went this far. He was inside a part of the community that he didn’t find familiar. While wondering around he saw this giant sign that said **Exclusive sale** Jacob wanted to know if this sale might have anything Bailey would like. He walked up to the stand and looked at what items they had on the table. There was one thing that caught his eye. It was a vintage style ballerina music box. Jacob doesn’t know if Bailey likes music boxes but he does know she loves vintage stuff. Jacob picked it up and looked at it. The person running the shopping stand came up to the table. Jacob hears a voice, saying “Hi! Would you like to trade for something?” Jacob looks up to see where the voice is coming from. It was a cute blonde girl, she looked around his age. Jacob froze for a moment. The girl says “Can I... help you?” she looked shy. Jacob says “Oh, uh... I wanted to know how much for this music box.” Jacob’s eyes diverted down to the gold diamond necklace she was wearing. Jacob didn’t realize what he said, he didn’t realize money has no use anymore, or that he didn’t even have money on himself. The girl said “Uh... we don’t use money anymore...” Jacob snaps out of it and says “Oh... Right.” the girl says “To get it you’re supposed to trade an item to me of the same value or more.” Jacob says “Oh, umm. I didn’t bring anything...” Jacob scratches the back of his head. The girl asked “You’re new here, right? Are you from the group of survivors the soldiers found a day ago?” Jacob says “Yes.” his eyes fall back onto her necklace. Her necklace looked perfect as a gift for Bailey but he knew it wasn’t for sale. It looked really expensive too.

The girl says “I thought so. You didn’t look familiar. You also didn’t know how our sales worked which was a big sign.” the girl realizes Jacob wasn’t paying attention. She noticed he was staring at something, it was her necklace. She touches the diamond on her necklace while saying “Are you looking at this?” Jacob says “Umm... yes... Uh, I wanted to know if it was for sale!” this was an opportunity to replace the necklace Bailey had lost. The girl says “No, it’s not.” Jacob says “Are you willing to...?” the girl says “This is a gift from my grandparents you know.” Jacob says “Oh, sorry for asking.” he felt a little sad knowing that he won’t be able to replace her necklace. The girl says “There is one way you could get it though...” Jacob says “Huh?” the girl says “You’ll have to play a game with me. If you do all of my tasks successfully then you can have it!” Jacob got surprised, he says “...What? You don’t care if you giveaway your grandparents gift?” the girl says “It’s not that I don’t care. They have given me many gifts like this before, it’s nothing special.” Jacob says “Oh...” the girl says “My name is Rebecca by the way! So are you up for my game?” Jacob says “Sure...” Jacob didn’t know what this girl was up to, or what she had planned for him. But what he did know was he wanted to get this necklace for Bailey.

Anna and Isabella were preparing to make the cake. Anna asks “What cake should we make her?” Isabella says “I was thinking vanilla.” Anna says “What about chocolate?” Valeria walks into the kitchen while yelling “CHEESECAKE!” Anna asks “Do we even have the ingredients to make that?” Valeria says “Oh... probably not. What about a strawberry cream cake?” Anna says “I like the sound of that. What do you think, Isabella?” Isabella says “I do too. Let’s do it!” Valeria says “Okay. I’m gonna feed Yuki!” Valeria runs off to feed Yuki.

Carl was heading somewhere. While he was walking he heard shouting coming from the living room. It sounded like Bailey. He walked up to the door to eavesdrop. He heard Bailey say “No! Why do my friends have to leave the mansion? Why bring them here in the first place if you were going to kick them out???” Henry says “It was never my decision to have them here, that was your mother’s doing. These “friends” of yours should be in the houses that were built in the community.” Bailey says “Oh but it’s okay if military soldiers barge into the house, right?” Henry says “They don’t barge into the house. They are given orders to show up where I tell them to. Stop being dramatic, you’re acting like I’m kicking them out of the community.” Bailey says “You might as well do that since they bother you so much!” Henry says “I wouldn’t say that so lightly, Bailey. You know I have no problem doing so!” Bailey says “Then I’ll just go with them!!” Henry says “You already said that earlier! You aren’t going anywhere. You’ll be staying right here.” Bailey says “No! I’m not obligated to stay just because you say so! You may be the “Commander” but you are not the commander of me, Dad!!!” Henry says “So you rather throw your life away for people you don’t know? Over your own family??” Bailey yells “MAYBE IF YOU TREATED ME LIKE FAMILY AND NOT BE A CONTROLLING ASSHOLE I WOULD CARE MORE ABOUT WHAT YOU SAY!” Bailey stomps her way towards the door. Carl quickly ran and hid. She opened the door and slammed it behind her. Carl sighed and wiped the sweat off of his forehead. He wonders if he should tell the others what he had heard or keep it to himself. He decided to keep it to himself for a bit.

Jacob ran around doing all the tasks Rebecca requested him to do. He didn’t understand why Rebecca was making him play this game. She had gotten him to steal an apple for her, swap over signs to make them incorrect, and throw eggs at someone’s window. Jacob believed she was doing this to test how far he would go just for a necklace, but what she doesn’t know is that Jacob has done far worse than what she was requesting. Rebecca says “Wow, you’re really willing to do a lot to win this game, huh.” Jacob says “I mean... why not? It’s fun.” Rebecca says “Oh really? I should make this harder then.” she gave a mischievous smile. Rebecca brought Jacob near the training grounds, she says “I dare you to do a sexy dance right in front of those military soldiers over there!” Jacob says “Huh? Are you for real?” Rebecca says “What? You can’t do it for this...” she touches her necklace. Jacob says “Fine...” Jacob knows he was about to make a fool of himself. He thinks to himself **Man... The shit I do for Bailey.** Jacob walked up in front of the guys. One of them asks “Hey kid, this place is for military personnel only.” Jacob says “I know that. I just wanted to show you my dance!” the guy says “Your what???” Jacob starts breaking out into a sexy dance. He wiggled his hips and was shaking his ass. The soldiers started laughing. One of them says “I dunno what the heck this kid is doing but it’s funny as hell!” Rebecca was watching him from a distance and giggling. When Jacob was done he ran back over to her. He says “Man that was humiliating.” Rebecca says “It’s okay. I thought you looked hot.” Jacob says “Yeah right...” Rebecca says “You have a lot of guts on you though. You’re encouraging me to make this harder.” Jacob says “You really want the entire community to see me as a clown, don’t you?” Rebecca says “Nah. You might actually like this task.” Jacob asks “What is it?” Rebecca says “You have to be lovey dovey with me in public.” Jacob gulps. He says “For how long?” Rebecca says “I don’t know... Maybe a few hours?” she smiles. Jacob says “I don’t really have all day. I have a birthday party to attend to.” Rebecca says “Right, the Commander’s Daughter.” Jacob nods and says “Yeah...” Rebecca says “Okay, then half an hour!” Jacob says “Okay I guess.” Rebecca grabs his hand, they both walked while holding hands like a couple.

Bailey went outside to calm down and get some fresh air. She composed herself and said **I’m not allowing my Father to ruin my special day.** While walking she spots Jacob from a distance. She gets excited and runs over to him. She was about to wave and call his name until she saw a blonde girl with him. He was smiling and laughing with her. She saw her grab a hold of his arm, being all giggly and cuddly with him. Bailey thought to herself **Who is this girl? And where does he know her from? How long did he even know her for?** Bailey got furious. She has never seen this girl before, and the thought of Jacob hiding this girl from her makes her feel bitter inside. And worst, she finds out about this girl on her birthday. Bailey angrily walks back to the house before the two of them see her.

Ally passed by the shop she saw yesterday. She came in with some items to trade. The shopkeeper says “Ah, you came back!” Ally says “Yeah. How are you?” the guy says “I’m doing great, thanks. And you?” Ally says “I’m fine.” the shopkeeper says “I’m guessing you came to get a gift for the Commander’s Daughter?” Ally says “Yes, how did you know?” the shopkeeper says “Literally everyone has been passing by here to get her a gift. The night when the Commander’s Daughter was found everyone was excited. It quickly spread like wildfire and became the talk of the community. And when people heard her birthday was coming up they were even more excited to do something special for her. For the community it’s a way of showing how thankful you are to the Commander for forming this community.” Ally says “That’s interesting.” the shopkeeper says “Indeed. So what would you like to get for the birthday girl?” Ally looked at the items available. She saw a teddy bear figurine and thought that Bailey might like it. She pointed to the item and placed the items she had to offer onto the table. The shopkeeper says “Sold! It’s all yours.” Ally claims her item and says “Thanks!” the shopkeeper says “You’re welcome! See ya next time.” Ally says “Bye!” while excitedly running back to the house to hide the present. As she barged into the house she saw Bailey pacing up and down on the ground hall. Ally quickly hid the present behind her and says “Oh.. Hi Bailey!” Bailey says in a low angry voice “Hi.” and went upstairs. Ally didn’t know what was up with her but she was sure that her mood would be uplifted later at the birthday party. Ally quickly ran upstairs and hid Bailey’s present in her room.

Half an hour passed by and Jacob successfully completed the task of pretending to be her boyfriend. He felt awkward but and hoped that no one important saw them together. Jacob and Rebecca were sitting down at an outdoor canteen. Rebecca says “It’s been fun!” Jacob says “Huh? Are we finished?” Rebecca says “No, silly. Let me finish! I have one more task for you.” Jacob says “Oh man. Here we go...” Rebecca says “This is the most important task of this entire game. And it will determine whether you get the necklace or not.” Jacob says “Okay.” Rebecca says “You notice how I brought you to a public area?” Jacob says “Yeah, just like the last two tasks.” Rebecca says “Are you ready for the ultimate task?” Jacob says “Yup.” Rebecca says “I want you to... go under the table and kiss my leg.” Jacob looks puzzled. He says “What...?” Rebecca says “You heard me. If you’re fine with doing a sexy dance in front of a bunch of men, stealing items, and messing up someone’s property then I’m sure this shouldn’t be too hard for you.” Jacob says “But...” he looks at the necklace, the sunlight hits onto the diamond, beaming a shiny sparkle. Rebecca says “But the necklace, remember!” Jacob sits there silent for a moment. He says “Okay... I’ll do it!” he went under the table and leaned in close to her legs. Rebecca says “Wait! Stop!” Jacob gets startled at her command to suddenly stop. He bumps his head under the table as he was going back to sit up. Rebecca says “Were you actually going to do it?” Jacob says “Was I not supposed to?” Rebecca says “I honestly thought you would flat out refuse or chicken out halfway, but you got so close I could feel you breathing on my legs!” Jacob scratches the back of his head in embarrassment. Rebecca says “I can tell you really want this necklace a lot.” Jacob says “Yes... I do.” Rebecca laughs a little. She says “I really like you, Jacob. I had so much fun today. I was lonely and kinda bored being around adults all the time, you really gave me a lot of excitement and thrill out of it.” Jacob says “Oh...” he didn’t know how to respond. Was her saying **I really like you.** a confession? He got confused and kind of worried. Rebecca touches her necklace, she says “It’s for a girl, isn’t it?” Jacob says “H- How do you know?” Rebecca says “Well there isn’t really any other reason to want it.” Jacob says “You have a point.” Rebecca took off her necklace and gave it to him, she says “I’m sure she will like it!” she smiled. Jacob says “Thank you!” and tucked it into his pocket. Rebecca says “You’re welcome. Good luck!” Rebecca happily skipped off. She turned around and said “Bye!” while waving at him. Jacob waved back.

Jacob went back to the house. As he was heading to his room he meets Ally in the hall. Ally says “Hey.” Jacob says “Wassup?” Ally says “Nothing really. Though Bailey looked angry earlier.” Jacob asks “Did her Dad piss her off again?” Ally says “I don’t know, maybe.” Jacob says “I’ll go see her.” Ally says “Okay.” Ally left and went to her room. Jacob went to Bailey’s door and knocked. Bailey knew who it was and said “Go away!” Jacob says “Bailey, it’s me, Jacob!” Bailey says “Yeah I know, now go away!” Jacob ignored her and entered her room anyway. Bailey says “Are you deaf???” she throws a pillow at him. Jacob says “Bailey, calm down!” Bailey snaps at him and says “DON’T TELL ME TO CALM DOWN! Just go play with your girlfriend and leave me alone.” Jacob says “Wait, what? Girlfriend???” Bailey says “You don’t need to hide it anymore, I already saw you with the blonde bimbo. Didn’t know you were that type of guy but I should’ve expected it.” Jacob says “Bailey, you got it all wrong! She’s just a friend!” Bailey says “A friend who holds and cuddles you while giggling and blushing? Do you expect me to believe that bullshit?” Jacob says “She’s a clingy person.” Bailey says “Stop lying!” Jacob says “Bailey, if I was dating her I wouldn’t hide it. I wouldn’t hide any of my relationships.” Bailey says “Mhm, keep lying to yourself!” Jacob says “Alright, you wanna know the truth? Fine. She had an item I wanted and needed to play a game with her to get it. She gave me weird tasks to do including pretending to be her boyfriend but that’s pretty much it!” Bailey says “Jacob, do you think this sounds any better? Pretending to be her boyfriend???” Jacob says “I did it to get this for you.” he pulls out the necklace out of his pocket. Jacob says “I wanted to replace the one you lost as a birthday present, so I did her tasks in order to get it.” Bailey sits there silently, staring at him for a moment. She says “Just leave.” Jacob says “Bailey!” Bailey says “I said, Leave.” Jacob sighs. He places the necklace on her table and leaves her room.

Ally was lying on her bed. She was bored and waiting for Bailey’s birthday party to start. To her surprise her phone started buzzing, someone was calling her. She quickly picked up the phone to see who it was, it was Ashley. Ally answered her phone. Ashley says “Hey, Ally!” Ally says “Hi! How are you?” Ashley says “Not doing too good. Ally, this is urgent and I need to tell you quick. The Government has given orders to cut out the electricity in a large area by using EMP, especially your area. They said that the reason they’re doing this is because they believe it’s the electricity that makes the zombies stronger at night, thus the reason why EMP is about to be used. In my opinion, that theory is dumb and the zombies are going to be tough at night with or without it. Before that happens I’ll need you to give me the location of where you are so that I can plan a future rescue.” Ally says “Okay. I’m at-“ the phone got cut off and the power went out. Ashley says “Hello? Hello?? Can you hear me? Ally??? Shit.” Ally says “No! Ashley???” she noticed that the phone connection has been cut. Bailey lifts her head up from the pillow and notices the power is out. She says to herself “Great. No electricity just to make my day worse.” Angelina walked into the kitchen and asked “Hey guys, why is the power out?” Anna says “We have no idea. It’s a good thing the cake is complete though.” Angelina says “Hmm.” everyone was confused about what was happening.

Henry says “So it’s happened. I figured.” a soldier came barging into his office. He says “Sir! The power supply has been shut down by what looks to be an EMP. We were unable to contact them before the incident, so it looks like our chances of contacting them now has dropped significantly.” Henry says “Did you protect the radio transmitter like I ordered?” the soldier says “Yes, Sir.” Henry says “What about sending a message through radio signal? Will that still work?” the soldier says “It can, but we need to be on high grounds for it to reach to them. There are still chances of it failing to reach to them, Sir.” Henry says “This will be our last chance to even gain help from the others. Prepare the troops for travel. Get high up on any buildings, towers, mountains or any high building structures and transmit that signal!” the soldier says “Yes, Sir!” the soldier leaves the office. Another soldier came in shortly, he says “Commander Sir!” Henry says “Yes?” the soldier says “Sir, this is urgent. We need you to look at this.” Henry followed the soldier to the research department. The soldier gave Henry a printed out paper to look at. The soldier says “This is information we obtained just before the power cut, Sir!” Henry reads the paper, he says “So, the outbreak was not a form of natural disaster...” the soldier says “No, Sir. From what the paper says it looks to be some kind of failed experiment that got out of hand.” Henry says “I see. Send the information to the other troops. I want them to transmit the message when they go out.” the soldier says “Yes, Sir!” the troops prepared for leave. They packed weapons and supplies onto their vehicles. Henry says “Hopefully we get a response. There is only so long our troops can hold out here.”.

Bailey was still in her room resting on her bed. She hears a knock on her door. She says “Will you go away already?? I said I don’t want to talk!!” Dolores says “Honey, it’s me, your Mother!” Bailey says “Oh.” she sighs. She says “Come in.” Dolores walks in. She says “How do you feel having some tea with me? We could have a little chitchat.” Bailey says “I don’t feel like talking.” Dolores says “Aww, pretty please? It will just be the two of us, like a girl’s talk!” Bailey says “I really don’t want to.” Dolores says “Oh. Okay. I really wanted to spend time and get closer to my Daughter again but perhaps another time...” Bailey feels a little guilty and says “Sigh, fine. I’ll have tea with you.” Dolores says “Ah, wonderful! I will prepare the tea.” Bailey says “I’ll be downstairs in a moment.” Dolores says “Okay, sweetie.” Dolores leaves her room and rushes downstairs to prepare the tea. About 8 minutes has past and Bailey heads downstairs to have tea with her mother. Before leaving her room she sees the necklace Jacob got for her on the table. Bailey still felt pissed at him but she couldn’t resist how beautiful the necklace was. She puts the necklace on and heads downstairs.

Bailey notices the house is pretty quiet. She thought maybe the others went out or something. Bailey walks to the living room doors and opens it. She steps inside, the curtains were closed and it was pretty dark inside despite it still being afternoon. When she shut the door behind her the curtains were whipped open. Then Bailey heard a loud **SURPRISEEEEE!!!** Bailey started forming a big smile on her face. The entire crew and friends from within the community threw a birthday party for her. They all came with birthday hats and presents. Dolores says “Happy birthday darling!” Bailey ran over and hugged her mom. Bailey started to tear up a little bit. Dolores says “Aww! Don’t cry, honey!” Bailey says “I’m sorry. I’m just overwhelmed right now.” Dolores smiles at her. The crew walked over and grabbed Bailey’s hand, Anna says “Come and see the cake we made for you!” Bailey walks over and looks, she says “Yum, strawberry cream cake!” Valeria says “Blow the candles and make a wish!” Isabella says “Yeah!” Molly says “Do it, Bailey!” Yuki barked. Angelina got Bailey and made her take a seat. Everyone in the room started singing “Happy birthday to you! Happy birthday to you! Happy birthday dear Bailey! Happy birthday to you! Aaayy” everyone in the room was clapping. Angelina says “Blow it and make a wish!” Bailey blew the candles on the cake. She says “I wish for health and happiness for everyone around me that I love.” Dolores says “Aww.” Anna says “Now it’s time for presents!” Bailey says “Oh, yay!” everyone was giving Bailey presents.

Ally gave her the teddy bear figurine, Bailey seems to love it. The rest of the crew gave her items like hats, cute pins, and handmade items. Molly made a cute drawing of the crew and gave it to Bailey. It was the crew drawn as stick figures but Bailey still found it adorable. After opening presents she cuts into the cake, places it on her plate, and eats it. While eating her cake she sees Jacob wondering around the room. She gets up from the chair and approaches him. Bailey says “Hi.” Jacob says “Hey.” they stared at each other in awkward silence. Jacob says “Umm, happy birthday by the way!” Bailey says “Thank you.” they went silent again. Bailey says “I’m assuming you didn’t get me a present?” Jacob says “You’re wearing it right now.” Bailey pulls a cheeky smile. Jacob says “You know, I’ve been thinking.” Bailey looked around while Jacob was talking. She realized that her dad wasn’t here. Bailey zoned out from Jacob’s conversation, looking for her dad. Jacob continued saying “I’m not sure if you feel the same...” Bailey says “Uh, sorry. I need to do something real quick.” Bailey went to her mother. Jacob says “Uh, okay.” Bailey asked her mom “Mom, where is Dad?” Dolores says “Oh. There was an emergency and your father had to order the soldiers to take care of it. I’m sure he will be here later though, he told me he will be here.” Bailey says “Hm, okay.” Bailey wasn’t too optimistic about it. As the hours passed by people in the community came over to say happy birthday and give her presents. Some more hours passed and it became closer to evening. The birthday party ended. Bailey walked up and down the house transferring many of her gifts to her room. The rest of the crew helped clean up the living room. Because the power is out they had to light up candles to see despite it still being fairly bright outside. After bringing the last bit of presents to her room Bailey crashes out onto her bed. She knew her dad wasn’t going to make it in time. She wasn’t surprised either. While she lied down looking at and counting the presents she realized that Ally’s teddy bear figurine was missing. She went back downstairs to get it.

Bailey went back into the living room and found the figurine on the couch. She picked it up and turned back to go to her room. When she turned around she saw her father standing by the door. He had a box in his hand. He walked in and handed the box to her, he says “Happy birthday, Bailey.” Bailey asks “Where were you?” Henry replied “Handling important things.” Bailey says “So my birthday is not important to you?” Henry replies “I never said it wasn’t.” Bailey looks at him, she wanted to say more but didn’t have the energy to argue. She opened up the box and looked inside. It was a makeup kit. Henry says “I remember you said you wanted that when you were about to head for highschool. I know that was a while ago but I figured you may still want it.” Bailey says “Really dad? A makeup kit? Something I asked for a couple years ago but you didn’t want me to have it because you said “It’s not necessary for highscool.”?” Henry says “I still stand by what I meant when I said that.” Bailey says “Have you ever thought why I would need makeup now of all times in the apocalypse? Have you ever thought to yourself why I would want to look pretty only to have my face messed up in a fight?” Henry says “You won’t have to deal with fights anymore, you’re here now.” Bailey says “UGH! I’m so SICK of you! You never get the point. It always flies over your head!” Henry says “What point? You’re just complaining just like always. You’re never satisfied or grateful for anything. Would you have preferred to have me not bring you a gift?” Bailey yells, saying “NO! I WOULD’VE PREFERRED IF YOU WEREN’T SUCH AN IMPULSIVE STUCK UP ASSHOLE THAT ALWAYS THINKS HE’S RIGHT AND HAS A RIGHT TO CONTROL THINGS!” Henry says “IF YOU DIDN’T LET YOUR FUTILE EMOTIONS GET THE BEST OF YOU THEN YOU WOULD BE MORE MATURE THAN YOU ARE ACTING RIGHT NOW! You’ve always argued over nonsense and even asked me for useless nonsense! How do you expect me to take you seriously and treat you like an adult when you’re here complaining about stupid makeup that you didn’t get a couple years ago??? If only I was blessed with a male child I wouldn’t have him whining to me about foolish makeup!”

Bailey yells back “Well sorry I’m not the boy child that you always wanted to be raised like you in your footsteps to become a dictating MORON that believes everything he does is right! Maybe if you took the time to UNDERSTAND your own DAUGHTER you would know that she’s not arguing over “foolish makeup” but more like calling out that you suck at taking the role of a Father. All you ever do is control everything your child wants and does. You just want me to be trapped and miserable and be like you! You don’t want me to experience normal things because you never had a normal childhood yourself!” Henry yells at her saying “SHUT YOUR MOUTH! I’ve had it with your nonsense. I can’t believe you still act like an immature brat after all these years! Don’t start a conversation with me again until you’ve learned to live in the real world and matured up like a proper adult!” Bailey says “Do you know why I moved to a highschool further away? It wasn’t because it had high reputation, it was because I wanted to get away from YOU!” when Bailey and her father were arguing they got attention from the rest of the crew. They asked each other what was happening but everyone shook their head shrugged at each other not knowing what was going on. Dolores meets with them in the hallway and says “This argument sounds really bad, we should interrupt it!” Dolores and the others went downstairs and interrupted the argument. Dolores asks “What’s going on???” both of them kept silent. A maid walked up to the entrance of the living room. She says “Sorry to interrupt, Sir. But a visitor is here to see you and your daughter.” Henry asks “What do they want?” the maid says “He’s the same person from yesterday that requested to see you for a proposition. He also said he wants to wish your daughter a happy birthday in person.” Henry says “I know who you’re talking. I’ll go and see him.” he walked out of the room to go see who it was. Angelina asks “Do you want us to come with you, Bailey?” Bailey nods. The crew goes with her.

Henry steps outside first and Bailey follows behind shortly after. The man was standing on the steps with an item in his hand that looked to be a present. Bailey gasps as she saw him, she says “Richard???” the crew hears what Bailey said. Angelina says “Richard? RICHARD???” Angelina’s blood starts to boil. Henry asks “Do you know this man?” Bailey says “Yes. He was an art teacher at my highschool. He’s also a piece of shit.” Richard starts to sweat, he looked pale and nervous. Anna says “He also tried to take control of us and use us to his advantage!” Jacob says “Then the asshole got vindictive after we dropped his ass and he sold us out to the raiders.” Carl says “We nearly got killed because of him!!!” Angelina grabs the broom the maid was holding and lunged at Richard. Richard screams. Angelina smacked Richard repeatedly, hitting him all over his body and head. After a thorough beating she was about to impale him with the broom stick. Bailey yelled “Angelina, NO!” Angelina says “Don’t get in my way!” Bailey says “Angelina, please! He’s not worth it! He’s a leech, he can’t survive without leeching off of other people! Let’s just throw him out of the community instead of getting our hands dirty. Our hands are stained with zombie blood enough as it is!” Angelina was panting really hard while staring at him angrily. She still had the end of the broom pointing down at him. Richard was crying. His hair and clothes were messy, his glasses were broken, and his nose was bleeding. Angelina had beaten him up really bad. Angelina looks to Henry, Henry says “What are you looking at me for? It doesn’t matter what you choose, this bastard will pay the consequences of nearly having my daughter killed either way. Though, I wouldn’t mind if you impaled the trash right there and then.” Bailey says “Dad! Don’t encourage her!” Angelina wanted to do it so badly but she didn’t want to spill blood on Bailey’s birthday. She put the broom down and spat on Richard. She walked back inside the house. Henry commanded his men to throw Richard out. Richard says “No! Please! Don’t do this to me!!! I could die out here!!!!” Richard was kicked out of the community to suffer.

Nighttime fell onto the community. Everyone used fire torches outside and lit candles in their houses. Jacob went to see Bailey again. He walked up to her door. Bailey’s door was slightly open. There was a small gap that Jacob could peep through. Bailey was sitting outside on the balcony. Jacob entered her room without notice and shut the door behind him. Bailey was sitting outside on the balcony with her knees bent in. She wrapped her arms around her legs with her face planted down on her knees. Jacob could hear her crying. Jacob kneels down and talks to her, he says “Bailey, what’s wrong?” Bailey lifts her head up and wipes her tears. She asks “Wh- What are you doing here? I didn’t hear you knock.” Jacob says “Your door was open.” Bailey says “Oh...” Jacob says “Tell me what’s wrong.” Bailey says “It’s nothing...” Jacob says “Don’t lie to me. I know something is bothering you.” Bailey sniffs, she says “Everything is wrong...” Jacob asks “What do you mean?” Bailey says “Everything!!! My birthday was ruined, my day was horrible. This is the worst day of my life!” Jacob says “How was your birthday ruined? You got presents and cake and everything!” Bailey says “Oh, please! My Dad was a complete asshole for the entire day, the power is knocked out, I saw you with some blonde bimbo, and to finish it off dumbass Richard shows up ON MY BIRTHDAY! All that in combination is just shitty!” Jacob says “I told you I have nothing to do with that girl!” Bailey says “Augh, I know... I’m just upset and feel like shit right now.” Bailey starts crying again. Jacob says “Sigh, Bailey...” she continues to cry. Jacob says “Bailey, look at me!” she lefts up her head. Jacob says “Look on the bright side. You have us, we’re alive, your parents are alive, and well... I can’t say the same for the rest of our parents because we don’t know.” Bailey says “Do you think I’m being selfish? Do you think I’m an immature spoilt brat?” Jacob says “No! You’re far from that. I just think you expect things to be more perfect and that’s totally okay! Everyone wants things to be in their favor.” Bailey says “So I am a spoilt brat! I’m here complaining when I have everything right under my nose! And you guys haven’t even got to find your parents yet... I feel so bad!” she ends up crying even more. Jacob just can’t get her to cheer up this time. Jacob lifts his hand and caresses her face. Jacob leans in and kisses her. The rule usually is to close your eyes while kissing but Bailey still had hers open. She was caught off guard and surprised but at the same time she liked it. She closes her eyes and goes deeper into the kiss. She placed her hand at the nape of his neck and pushed in closer to him. After holding the kiss for a minute they pulled away from each other. Bailey says “It took you long enough. I was wondering when you would actually do it.” Jacob says “Huh, well...” they sat there in awkward silence. Jacob says “I should get going.” Bailey asks “Why? You don’t have anything doing!” Jacob says “I did promise to do something with Carl before I sleep so...” Bailey says “Oh. Well, goodnight!” Jacob says “Goodnight!” and leaves her room. Jacob lied about needing to do something with Carl. He said that as an excuse to leave Bailey’s room because he felt awkward.

Jacob walks down the hallway to go to his room. As he opened his door Anna came running down the hall, she says “Jacob, wait!” Jacob says “Huh?” Anna says “Come with me, this is important.” Jacob followed Anna, she led him to the kitchen. Angelina and Carl were waiting there as well. Jacob asks “What are you guys doing?” Angelina says “Carl told us about an argument he overheard with Bailey and her Dad. It was about Bailey wanting to leave because she can’t stand her dad.” Jacob says “And what are we supposed to do about it?” Anna says “We wanted to talk to her Dad. Let him know that Bailey isn’t the naive child he thinks she is.” Jacob says “Oh come on guys. He doesn’t even listen to his own daughter! What makes you think he’ll listen to us?” Anna says “We think it’s still worth the shot. We have nothing to lose doing this. If it doesn’t work and Bailey does decide to leave then we’ll leave with her.” Dolores walks in, she says “She’s right.” Angelina says “Huh? You were listening?” Dolores says “Yes, sorry about that. You aren’t wrong about talking to Henry about this though. Henry is a stubborn man and has trust issues. He may not take you seriously at first but if you show how genuine you are I’m sure it will spark some bells is his mind.” Carl asks “Do you really think we have a chance?” Dolores says “I believe you do. Don’t let his intimidating actions get to you either.” Angelina says “Do you know where we can request to meet him?” Dolores says “Just go to the military headquarters and ask for him, I’m sure he will agree to talk to you. Good luck!” Anna says “Thank you! Okay guys, let’s do this.”.

The group went to the headquarters. Angelina asked the soldiers standing outside “Hey, can we see the Commander?” the soldier says “The Commander said he doesn’t want to be disturbed right now.” Angelina says “It’s really important though. Could you at least tell him that we want to talk to him?” the soldier looked at the other soldiers, they nodded. The soldier says “Alright.” he went inside to tell the Commander. After a few moments the soldier came outside, saying “The Commander said you can see him in his office.” the soldier pointed to a direction, he says “This way.” the group followed the direction the soldier was giving them. The group went into the Commander’s office. He was standing up, staring out of the window. Henry says “What do you people want?” Carl says “It’s about Bailey, sir.” Henry says “And what about my daughter that needs to be discussed?” Jacob says “We’ve heard about the problem between you and your daughter. She thinks you’re controlling, and you think she’s immature. But-“ Henry cuts in and says “It’s very rude to eavesdrop on other people’s problems. What goes on between my family is nothing to do with you.” Anna says “Please listen. We get you’re protective of your daughter and don’t really trust her to do things on her own. But we can guarantee you that she is not what you think of her. When the outbreak happened she stuck by our side and we covered each other’s backs. We didn’t even know each other but yet we put trust into each other.” Angelina says “Yes. And when the fight with the raiders happened she chose to put herself out there and do a distraction for us. She’s very selfless when it comes to helping people she cares about.” Carl says “She could’ve chosen to leave us too, but she stayed with us even after the raider situation.” Jacob says “Plus she was also worried sick for her family, we all were worried for our families. She stayed strong and pushed through the complicated situations we had. An immature person wouldn’t be able to do that. And despite having bad blood with her Father she continued to worry for both her Mother and Father.” Henry stood there silently staring out of the window. Henry turned around, he says “Why are you telling me all of this?” Angelina says “We’re telling you this to get a better understanding of her.” Anna says “And we also ask of you to put more trust in her. She is more than capable of taking care of herself and others around her.” Henry says “And I’m supposed to allow some stranger misfits to tell me how I should be treating my Daughter?” Angelina says “We’re strangers to you but we are good friends to her. We do hope you realize that your actions are only pushing her away. Because one day, she might walk out that door and never turn back, and you will only have yourself to blame.” Henry says “You may leave now.” the group stared at him. They couldn’t believe the level of ignorance he had, but they decided to let it go and leave. Jacob says “I told you it was a waste of time.” Carl says “Man! At this rate Bailey is gonna ask to leave this place, and then we will be without shelter again!” Jacob says “Maybe it’s for the best that we leave...” Angelina says “Wait, really?” Jacob says “I don’t want Bailey to be pissed all the time while being here, so why not?” Angelina looks at him with surprise, he’s usually not a fan of leaving safe places but this time he didn’t care. Anna says “I’m going to bed. I’ll see you guys tomorrow!” Angelina says “Goodnight!” they all split up and went to their rooms to go sleep for the night.

Henry stayed in his office all night. He rests on his chair with his legs up on the table. Henry couldn’t help but to get thoughts about what happened earlier. **All you ever do is control everything your child wants and does. You just want me to be trapped and miserable and be just like you! You don’t want me to experience normal things because you never had a normal childhood yourself!** what Bailey said to him earlier started to creep in his mind, he shrugs off the thought. **Well sorry I’m not the boy child that you always wanted to be raised like you in your footsteps to become a dictating MORON that believes everything he does is right!** He shrugs off the thought again. **We do hope you realize that your actions are only pushing her away. Because one day, she may walk out that door and never turn back, and you will only have yourself to blame.** Henry knows deep down that everything said was right. He was projecting everything that happened in his childhood onto Bailey. He was pushing his authority onto her, and struggling to separate his military life from his personal one. He sighed, thinking about the things he’s said to her, realizing that he was being no different from his own father.

Next morning.

Bailey came downstairs to eat breakfast at the dining table. To her surprise the crew was eating at the table as well. Bailey says “Huh? You guys are allowed to eat here???” Angelina says “We found it strange too. When I woke up the maid told me we could come here to eat instead of eating at the guest table.” everyone at the table said **Same.** Dolores walked into the dining room, she says “I’m surprised too! Did you say something to him, Bailey?” Bailey shakes her head saying “No.” Angelina, Anna, Jacob and Carl kept quiet. Yuki came in, she sniffed under the table. Yuki went around Valeria’s feet. Valeria dropped a piece of bacon for Yuki. Yuki started biting into it. Everyone ate their breakfast. The maid came in and said “Ms Bailey, the Commander wants you to see him in the garden.” Bailey nods at the maid. She doesn’t know what her father wants but she wasn’t looking forward to it at all. Bailey finished her breakfast and said “Excuse me.” she got up and went to the backyard garden.

Henry was standing around waiting. Bailey walked up to him and asked “What is it about?” Henry says “Bailey...” Bailey stood there waiting for him to say something. Henry says “I’ve been thinking a lot last night. I realized that everything you said to me yesterday was right. I projected my negativity onto you and I was wrong for it.” Bailey’s eyes widened a bit. She was surprised that he even admitted he was at fault. Henry says “When I was a child my Father was a military chief. He would never have time to play with me or do anything with me. When I was 12 he started to get more serious towards me, colder, and showing less emotion towards me. He scolded me for wanting “childish” things like toys and games. Telling me **I need to stop asking for useless things and grow up.** My father wanted me to become a man even though I was the age of a boy. He wanted me to follow his footsteps, and so I did. I guess after all those years I didn’t realize that I picked up the very same attitude my Father had towards me.” Bailey stayed quiet and kept listening. Henry continued “When your Mother was pregnant I was excited. I had a name planned and everything. I even bought baby stuff beforehand. But then when she gave birth I was disappointed, all because my child wasn’t a boy, but a girl. The baby stuff I bought was for boys, so you grew up in a boy’s looking room. Me and Dolores didn’t bother to check the baby’s gender beforehand. And she scolded me for assuming. After a while I told myself to get over it. But I didn’t get over it in a healthy way. I wanted you to be a female version of me. And when I saw you grew up different from what I wanted I subconsciously became controlling without realizing it.” Bailey says “So that’s why you acted like that towards me? Because you were disappointed?” Henry says “Yes. I was stubborn and foolish. When I was younger I kept telling myself I would never want to be like my father, and yet I became exactly what I despised. I couldn’t separate my military life from my personal one. Bailey, I’m sorry for being so cold and controlling towards you... for all these years.” Bailey’s eyes start to get a little teary. Henry says “If you still want to leave the community and be elsewhere, then I’m not stopping you. I can tell you trust your friends and that they take care of you well.” Bailey ran to her dad and hugged him. When Bailey hugged him he felt weird, he never had a hug like this from her since she was 9 years old. Dolores and the rest of the crew were looking out the window, they were smiling and happy. They were glad that things seem to be smooth between them now. Henry says “How about we take a stroll around the community while chatting to each other? It’s been a while since we bonded.” Bailey nods and says “Sure!” they both went to take a stroll together.

Bailey and her father strolled through the community. He shared stories with her, he showed her things that she never knew about, and told her the history about the community. Henry says “This place is actually my old hometown.” Bailey says “Really? Wow.” Henry says “When the outbreak happened we had survivors with us. I didn’t know where else to take them since we had lost contact with the other bases. So I decided to come here. It wasn’t an easy progress since we had zombies roaming here, but we cleared them out and built a high fence. And that’s how the community was created.” Bailey says “That’s amazing.” Henry says “Anything’s possible when you have the willpower.” Bailey says “Yeah.” she smiles at him, he awkwardly smiled back. It was more like a smirk really. The gates opened and Henry’s troops were back. Henry said “Excuse me for a moment.” he went over to his troops, some of them were injured. Cameron came running over, she asked “What happened?” one of the soldiers said “We were ambushed by a hoard. We got outnumbered and lost some troops.” Henry says “Damn it!” Cameron got her medic team, she ordered them to attend to the injured immediately. They carried some of the injured to the infirmary. Bailey’s eyebrows furrowed, she was worried about her father’s troops. Henry says “You! Did you get anything from the radio transmitter?” the soldier says “Fortunately yes, Sir!” Henry says “Tell me all of the details at the headquarters, I’ll be over there in a moment.” the soldier replied “Yes, Sir!”

Henry went to the headquarters. The soldier says “Sir! We managed to contact the other troops, but the message we’ve received was distorted.” Henry says “What was the message?” the soldier gave him a piece of paper. He says “They’ve informed us of their location and told us about their situation. They said they were safe but are also cut off from the rest of the troops, they’ve also mentioned other information but we couldn’t decipher it.” Henry says “So the same situation as us.” the soldier said “Yes, Sir!” Henry says “Did you successfully transmit the information about where we are and the assistance I’ve requested for.” the soldier replied “Sir, we’ve sent it but we’re unsure if they received it. The signal was still affected by the EMP.” Henry says “Hmm.” the soldier says “Sir, I personally don’t think they’ve received the message, or else we would’ve gotten a response. But that’s just my take on the situation, Sir!” Henry says “Damn it!!” Henry stood there and thought to himself for a moment. Henry says “Continue to tinker with the radio system from inside the community. We need more information.” the soldier says “Yes, Sir!” Henry says “And print a copy of that paper with the information on it!” the soldier says “Yes, Sir!” Henry mutters to himself “Perhaps it was a bad idea sending out my troops for a radio signal. Hmmm.”.

Jacob went looking for Bailey again. He searched everywhere around the house to find her but he couldn’t see her anywhere. Jacob went out to look for her. After looking around for a bit he finds her roaming around the neighborhood. Jacob says “Hey!” Bailey says “Hi!” Jacob says “You look happy.” Bailey says “I am. My Father is finally beginning to understand me.” Jacob says “I’m glad to hear.” Bailey asks “Did you guys do something to change his mind? It’s not like him to change just like that...” Jacob says “Eh? I didn’t do anything...” Bailey stares at him suspiciously, he’s not giving any hints that he’s lying. Jacob says “Do you... Umm... Nevermind.” Bailey says “No, what is it?” Jacob says “Do you want to... hold hands?” Bailey says “I, uh... sure!” she felt a bit nervous doing so but she wanted to. Jacob reached out for her hand, their fingers intertwined together. They took a little walk out in the community. While walking, Jacob was trying to think what to talk about. Then an explosion was heard. They both jumped a bit from being startled. Bailey says “What was that???” Jacob turned around and saw smoke coming from a building. Jacob says “It’s from the headquarters!” Bailey says “No... DAD!!!” Bailey ran over there. Jacob says “Bailey! Wait!” he ran after her.

As Bailey and Jacob got closer to the building they saw everyone running. Bailey tried asking people what was happening, but they would just continue running without saying a word. Bailey ended up running into Cameron. Bailey says “Cameron! What’s going on???” Cameron says “It’s a disaster! Some of the soldiers that came back were infected! They turned into zombies and started attacking the healthy soldiers. If we don’t do damage control quick then this place is done for!” Jacob says “Shit...” Bailey says “What about the explosion? Is my Father okay???” Cameron says “Your Father is fine. The explosion was a result of a panic in the science lab. I’m not sure if the scientists are okay though...” Bailey starts to feel awfully worried. Cameron says “I need to go! Sorry.” Cameron rushes her way over there to give medical assistance. Bailey asks Jacob “What do we do now???” Jacob says “We need to get to safety or at least arm ourselves with weapons!” Bailey says “What about my Father??” Jacob says “The man can take care of himself. He’s a Commander, remember? Just trust that he’s okay!” Bailey still has worry on her face. Jacob grabs her hand and says “Let’s go!” they head back to the house.

Bailey and Jacob run into Carl and Valeria. Carl says “Guys! What’s going on?” Jacob says “Infected soldiers turned into zombies and started attacking people.” Carl says “My god...” Jacob says “We need to arm ourselves and be prepared!” Carl says “I know where we can get weapons!” Bailey says “You do?” Jacob says “Show us!” Carl says “Okay, let’s go!” Valeria picks up Yuki and carries her along. Carl leads them to the hummer in the garage. On their way there they see Anna fighting zombies. Anna swung her crutch at a zombie and took it down. She stabbed the bottom of her crutch into the zombie’s head. Bailey says “Anna! Where are the others?” Anna says “I don’t know. I’ve been looking for Isabella...” Valeria says “We’re going to get weapons, come with us!” Anna says “Okay.” Dolores came running in, saying “Bailey!” Bailey says “Mom!” she runs to her mother. Bailey asks “Mom, what’s going on? Where’s Dad?” Dolores says “Your Dad is fighting the zombies off, but I’m afraid the situation is critical.” Bailey says “What do you mean?” Dolores says “Too many people are infected...” Bailey gasps. Carl says “Guys, I’m sorry for interrupting but we need to get weapons!” Dolores says “We have a weapon shack you can get weapons from.” Bailey says “We were about to get it from our hummer.” Dolores says “Save those for when you’ll need it. We have more for you to use. Follow me!” they followed Dolores to the weapon shack. They grabbed all sorts of guns and pistols to use. The group ran back outside and started taking down the zombies. It was hard for them to do. Many zombies had recognizable faces, people that they’ve seen live normal and happy lives in the community, now turned into a walking pile of rotting flesh. While fighting the zombies they found Angelina, Ally, Isabella and Molly together. They were being led by Henry. Dolores says “Henry!” she ran to Henry. Dolores grabs his hands and says “Honey! We need to do something!!” Henry says “It’s already too late, Hun. The community is ruined...” Dolores says “No... There has to be a way-“ Henry says “There is no way to save it, Dolores.” Dolores looks at him with sad eyes.

Dolores and Henry both turned to look at Bailey. Henry says “Bailey, you’ll have to go!” Bailey says “What? I’m not leaving you guys!” Henry says “You have to! It’s not safe here anymore.” Dolores says “Your Father is right. You’ll just be endangered living here.” Henry gives Bailey a piece of paper, it was the paper that has important info about where the other military soldiers are stationed. Henry says “You’re going to need this. These people will help you. Just let them know you’re the daughter of Commander Henry.” Bailey says “But...” Dolores says “Don’t worry about us, sweetie. Your Father and I are fighters.” she smiles at her. Bailey starts to breakdown crying. Henry says “Go with your friends, Bailey.” Dolores says “We love you, sweetie.” Bailey nods with tears streaming down her face. Henry says “Take care of yourself, okay? You’ll always be my little girl!” Bailey runs up to them and hugs them both, she holds onto them tightly for a moment. Jacob says “Bailey, please, we have to go!” Bailey says “I love you Mom and Dad!” Bailey runs off with the crew. She turned around one more time and sees them waving at her, she waves back. The crew quickly rushed to the house to grab their belongings. They didn’t have much time so a lot of things were forgotten. Bailey grabbed most of her birthday gifts and took it with her. Jacob grabbed the gun he had sitting in his drawer. Ally went to pack Molly’s important stuff. After the others grabbed their belongings they met each other outside. The crew quickly rushes to get inside the hummer. Angelina says “Well shit, here we go again.” she starts up the hummer, Angelina says “Buckle up ya’ll!” she drives off. She heads to the front gates. The soldiers quickly open the gates. Just as the soldier opened the gate a zombie jumped on him. Angelina says “Goddamn.” the crew leaves the community. Bailey says “I didn’t even get to say bye to anyone...” Anna says “Same.” Angelina says “None of us got to. Not even to Cameron.” Valeria says “At least we have Yuki here.” she pets Yuki. Jacob says “The most important thing is that you got to say goodbye to your parents.” Bailey says “Yeah...” Angelina heads to the location Bailey’s father has on paper. They don’t know what to expect but hopefully it’s a place where they can settle for longer.


	12. Rough Directions

The crew were back to square one. Traveling back on the roads again and looking for a new shelter to crash in. Bailey was worried. She started to have negative thoughts of bad things happening to her parents. Anna pats her back and says “Don’t worry too much, okay? Your parents are strong, they can protect themselves.” Bailey says “They act like they’re strong just to stop me from worrying, but I’m still worried...” Anna says “Your Father gave you an address to go to. I’m sure once they’re safe they will come to see you again.” Bailey says “He didn’t even explain much. He just said that we can seek help there...” Anna says “Then we will follow the directions he has given us, okay?” Bailey nods. She hung her head low a bit, worrying for her family.

Everything then went silent. It was like the crew were out of things to even talk about. Carl breaks the silence and says “We’re never going to settle down, are we?” Jacob says “Probably not. It’s the second time we had to move now.” Ally says “Do you think any survivors made it out alive?” everyone went silent, hesitant to answer Ally’s question. Angelina says “Guys, listen. What’s important is that we stay safe and keep our guard up. We have a lot of things to be concerned about, but we need to focus on ourselves.” Jacob says “She’s right. We need to get to another safe spot now. For how long… I don’t know.” Angelina says “Bailey, can you pass me that paper your Father gave you?” Bailey says “Oh, here.” She reaches out and gives the paper to Angelina. Angelina took the paper and read it. Angelina says “How do we even get there? The road map looks complicated, and I’ve never been this far before.” Bailey shrugs, saying “I don’t know either. Only one who knows this place is my Dad.” Angelina says “Well... let’s try to get there.” Angelina turns and takes the wide open road.

After 20 minutes traveling in silence Angelina says “I think we’re getting closer? The path we’re taking is very similar to what is described on paper.” Anna says “That’s great-“ Angelina interrupts, saying “Sh-!” she slams her foot on the breaks. Anna says “What is it? What happened?” Angelina says “A hoard.” She points ahead. It was a zombie hoard slowly making their way down the wide open road ahead. Jacob says “Dozens of them...” Angelina says “I won’t be able to drive through this s-.” she was almost about to swear again but she had remembered that they have Molly now. She says “We gotta take another route.” She gears in reverse to turn the hummer around. Bailey says “Wait! We might get lost if we don’t follow the exact directions!” Jacob says “We can’t drive through **that** either.” Angelina says “We’ll be fine. It’s better to take a safer route than be sorry. Once we find a way to reach the college we should be able to find that military hideout from there.” Bailey says “Hmm, okay...” she says in a worried tone. Angelina goes off-road to dodge the hoard.

The crew drove off-road, taking a bumpy ride. It was uncomfortable but they had no other choice. Bailey says “This place looks too different from the map. I’m getting the feeling we’re about to get lost.” Anna says “We’ll have to wait and see. I’ve been lost before while traveling, but there is always a way out.” Bailey says “We can’t afford to get lost now! If we get lost and night falls... we’re done for!” Anna says “Bailey, please. You have to calm down! Panicking won’t do us any good. We need to keep level headed.” Bailey got irritated at being told to calm down. Jacob looks at her and says “She’s right. Let’s just chill for now. We have enough time.” Bailey takes a breath and sits back. Angelina says “I see what looks to be a college from the distance?” Valeria says “For real?” she leans in forward to look. Bailey excitedly says “That must be it! Let’s get close to that college.” Angelina drives back onto the road. Anna says “Ah, much better! That bumpy path was making my head hurt.” It felt good being on the smoothly paved path again.

A few minutes driving there and the crew were already outside the college walls. Angelina says “So from this paper it looks like the base is west from the college. About 30-40 minutes away perhaps?” Jacob says “Should be. If that’s what’s written there then yeah.” Bailey says “Office Building, Abandoned Pawn Shop, Car Park. These are the landmarks on the paper we should be looking out for.” Anna says “That’s no problem. We have 18 eyes in this car keeping an eye out.” Valeria coughs and says “20.” She points to Yuki. Anna says “Haha, and Yuki of course.” Yuki barks.

Angelina says “Are you freaking kidding me?” Bailey asks “What happened?” Angelina hits the breaks. She says “Look.” she nods her head up ahead. Another hoard. Jacob says “Damn it! It’s as bad as the last one.” Angelina says “I can’t see any other path I can take. Too much debris and crap in the way.” Bailey nervously says “I told you we should’ve rammed through the last hoard!” Angelina says “We wouldn’t have made it through that one, neither would we make it through this one!” Bailey’s voice shakes, she says “T- Then what do you suggest we do???” the crew sits there in silence. Tension begins to rise.

Jacob gets lost in thought. Then he realizes there is only two ways you can really get rid of a zombie hoard, fight them head on, or distract them. Obviously fighting them head on would be asking to die. He says “Get over the college walls, set an explosive trap inside the football stadium, open the college gates and set off the explosion. They should come pouring in and the road should be cleared up enough to get through.” Angelina says “That would’ve been a good idea if we had any explosives...” Carl says “We have grenades!” Angelina replies “Except grenades won’t even grab the attention of the zombies roaming outside the college. We need something big!” Anna says “We can only go inside the college and see what we can find. Arguing here won’t do us any good, and time is ticking.” Bailey says “Right, we need to move!”

Everyone gets out the hummer. Isabella says “Wait! Shouldn’t some of us stay behind?” Bailey asks “Why?” Isabella pauses for a moment. She stutters a little, saying “W- Well... we don’t want someone to steal the hummer!” Bailey says “There is literally no signs of life out here. I don’t get what you’re worried about.” Isabella says “Sorry... I guess I’m still a bit traumatized by what the raiders have done to us.” Anna sighs, she says “I understand, Izzy. I do think we should take precaution still. We also have Molly to think about, it’s not a good idea that she comes along with us. And at least two of us should stay out here while armed.” Bailey says “I really didn’t want us to split up because it’s risky, but since it’s for Molly’s sake... Ugh, what if you guys get attacked by zombies and we aren’t in range to help you?” Anna says “Do we still have those walkie-talkies?” Jacob says “Raiders took them.” Ally says “I still have mine. If there is one in the hummer we should be able to stay in contact.” Angelina says “I’ll check.” she searches the hummer for the walkie-talkie. While looking for it she finds something that rolled under the car seat. She reaches her hand under there and pulls out a walkie-talkie.

Angelina shows the others and says “Lucky find.” Ally says “Great! Now the question is, does it still work?” Angelina presses the button, it was dead. Bailey says “Well...” Ally says “I guess it’s the battery.” an idea appears in her mind, she says “Tell you what, we’ll leave the live walkie-talkie with whoever stays, and take the dead one with us. There must be some batteries inside the college.” Bailey says “Yeah, that’s a good idea. Who wants to stay?” everyone went silent. She says “Oh come on. How are you gonna agree that someone needs to stay and then not want to volunteer?” Jacob says “I guess suddenly everyone wants to be out an about with the zombies.” Anna says “I’ll stay. You guys go do what you have to.” Bailey says “You aren’t staying alone with Molly.” Isabella says “I’ll stay.” Bailey replies “Oh, now you want to?” Angelina says “They’re best friends.” Yuki barks. Anna says “I think Yuki should stay with us, her barking might compromise things...” Angelina agrees. Jacob says “Enough gibbering. We need to get this done ASAP.” Angelina says “Okay, we’ll see you guys later!” Anna says “Later guys, and be safe!” Ally gives the walkie-talkie to Anna. Molly says “Promise you’ll come back!” Angelina smiles and says “We will!”

The group scaled the wall and entered the college grounds. Angelina says “Alright, we’ll need to split into two teams.” Bailey asks “Again?” Angelina says “It’s necessary so we can get this done quick.” the others agree by nodding. She continues, saying “Half of us need to scout the field to clear any potential dangers. The other half will need to find an explosive source to make this plan work.” Carl raises his hand and says “I’d like to go looking for explosives. That would be so cool!” Bailey says “Someone go with the chubby and make sure he doesn’t go blowing us all up...” Carl says “Hey! I’m not that clumsy!” Angelina decided which teams should be divided, she says to Bailey “Carl, Ally, and I will search for objects that can be used as explosives. You, Jacob, and Valeria should scout the field.” she distributes weapons to the three of them. She says “Here, I’ve given you some melee weapons. We need to minimize all the noise until we can pull this off.” Bailey and Valeria nods. Angelina, Ally, and Carl storm off to find explosives. Bailey and Valeria move off to scout the fields, Jacob follows slowly behind them.

It’s been a while since that incident at Middlefort. The incident that has made Jacob change. Although it’s been a while, it has seemed as if everyone has moved on from that. Who are we kidding... it hasn’t even been that long. Everyone just pretends that it’s a thing of the past just to move on, but one thing for sure, Jacob hasn’t let go of that feeling ever since it happened.

Rage.

Ever since that day he has felt an everlasting rage. He just keeps it bottled inside, locked in a safe place so that he doesn’t turn violent or insane. He’s usually nice, cooperative, and shows concern for those around him. But there has been moments deep down where he wanted to tell everyone to “Fuck off” and go about his business. Of course, his situation stops him from doing that. But why does he feel so angry? It’s just a unfortunate incident. Was it his fault? Does he feel it is his fault? Jacob had a million thoughts per second running through his mind.

Taking a long walk through the football field doesn’t help ease his thinking. Jacob snaps out of it and says to himself **”Stop it, Jacob! It’s not your fault! It’s nobody’s fault!”** he can’t help but stare at the ground while walking **”Ugh, I need to stop overthinking”** he shakes his head and lifts his eyes off the ground. He sees Bailey and Valeria walking ahead of him. Jacob says to himself **”No...”** his eyes peers at Valeria. **”If it wasn’t for her... he-“** “Jacob?” Bailey says. Jacob answers “Huh?” Bailey rolls her eyes, she says “Stop lagging behind!” Jacob walks a little faster, catching up to the girls. The three of them walk to the middle of the field. There were a few zombies lingering around the edge of the field. It appeared to be that most zombies were locked inside the locker buildings to the right. Bailey says “Let’s clear the field.”

Angelina, Ally, and Carl went inside the college to look for explosive items. Ally says “This College is so much like our higschool.” Carl says “Yeah, but bigger and higher budget!” Angelina says “Well there is a reason college is much better than highschool.” Carl says “Really? I hope one day I can experience it.” Angelina didn’t feel too hopeful about that.

Ally says “There is so much supplies here. Food, drinks, medical, you name it. Angelina says “I agree, I think we should at least pick some of this stuff up. OH!” Ally asks “What is it?” Angelina says “The walkie-talkies! Let’s find some batteries and ask how Anna and Isabella are.” Ally says “Oh yeah... I almost forgot about that.” the three of them picked up supplies, but not everything could fit into their bags. They were getting weighed down so they have only picked up what was considered essential.

While picking up a few more things Carl had finally stumbled upon some batteries. He says “Angelina, I found some!” Angelina walked over to him. She says “The perfect sized batteries too!” she takes out the old batteries and replaces them with the new ones. She presses the button and says “Successfully replaced with new batteries, over.”

Anna and Isabella sit inside the hummer along with Molly and Yuki. Isabella was petting Yuki while Anna was playing games with Molly to keep her occupied. While playing games with her, Anna felt bad for Molly in a way. She had lost both of her parents without realizing yet, and she’s the only child, being surrounded only by adults. For a child her age it’s important for her to play with other kids, be able to do drawing and painting, and even other children’s things like playing with toys. These things are important for a healthy child growth, and Molly is practically missing all of these. Before she knows it, her childhood would be over, perhaps even long before she reaches adulthood.

Molly asks “Why did the chicken cross the road?” Anna answers “Because it wanted to see Molly’s cutie face?” Molly blushes and says “Wrong. It wanted to greet the walking creatures!” Anna says “Huh?” Molly points and says “Those walking creatures! The ones you guys call zombies.” she points to the zombies outside. Molly says “Daddy told me I should stay away from these creatures because they’re very bad!” Anna asks “Molly, do you know what they are?” Molly says “Daddy told me they are bad.” Anna quickly figures out that Molly doesn’t quite understand what a zombie is. She wanted to tell Molly that those “walking creatures.” were actually people once. But in a way she was glad that Molly doesn’t understand what a zombie is. It brought comfort to her knowing that Molly was too young and innocent to know that these zombies who were once people are now just a pile of walking rotted flesh. She realizes that it’s best to keep it that way.

The walkie-talkie tuned in, it was Angelina on the other side. She says “Successfully replaced with new batteries, over.” Anna asks “Could you answer that, please?” since Isabella was closer to the talkie. Isabella leans over and picks it up. She presses the button and replies “That’s great! How is everything going?” Angelina replies “Ehh... we’re kinda stuck on finding explosives.” Anna sighs and says “Damn.” Isabella says “Oh...” Angelina says “We’ll work something out. How is the atmosphere on your end?” Isabella says “Well-“ Anna shushes Isabella and signals that a zombie is walking past the hummer. Isabella presses the button and whispers “Shh, zombie!” the two of them remained quiet. Anna showed a “shh” sign at Molly by pressing her finger close to her own lips. Isabella got anxious, hoping that Yuki does not bark. The zombie slowly shuffled past the hummer. It took a good few minutes for it to get far away enough. Both of them released a breath of relief. Isabella replied, saying “Angelina?” Angelina asks “Are you guys okay? I was getting worried as hell.” Isabella replies “We’re alright. Just a little close call, that’s all.” Angelina says “I’m glad to know. Well, I’ve got to go again, we’ve still got a job to do.” Isabella says “Okay. Please be safe!”

Bailey jabs a zombie through the head with a spear, then she pulls it out. The team of 3 cleared up the fields, ready to prepare the plan. While cleaning up Bailey had noticed that Jacob is visibly bothered. Bailey asks “What’s going on, Jacob?” Jacob was lost in thought. Bailey says again “Jacob!” Jacob snaps out of it and says “Huh?” Bailey gets irritated. Valeria says “Hey guys, look!” Bailey asks “What is it?” Valeria says “The door is loose...” she pointed to the locker buildings.

The door was barely holding together, if the zombies were smart enough to pull the door away they would’ve gotten out a long time ago. But instead they continued to push the door, causing the door to hold there. But despite the door being pushed it looks like it could tear apart with constant scratching and pushing being done to it. Jacob says “Leave it. We’ll blow them up once the others have the explosives.” Valeria says “That door won’t hold ‘til then. We should really clean them up before we get jumped by them.” Jacob says “No.” Bailey says “She’s right. If that door breaks and they come pouring out while we set things up then our plans could be totally screwed.” the girls walk over to the building. Jacob got annoyed that Bailey sided with Valeria’s idea. Ever since that day all Jacob had was negative feelings towards Valeria. Even though Valeria is pretty tough and can take care of herself Jacob views her as a reckless person.

Jacob tries to convince Bailey out of it, saying “Look how many are there! It looks like at least 20 or more in that building. Do you want to die???” Bailey says “What is the point suggesting that we do this plan only to chicken out later??” Jacob says “I’m not “chickening” out. I’m being cautious and playing safe rather than stupid. What you guys are about to do is stupid as hell.” Bailey rolled her eyes and said “Ignore him. He’s just panicking.” Jacob says “Bailey!” Bailey says to Valeria “Ready?” Valeria nods. She kicks down the door. The two of them back up and let the zombies pour out. As the zombies approached one by one the girls jabbed them in the head with spears. Straight through their brain. Jacob had a bad feeling towards this idea.

His mind started to go back to that day. Jacob stood still. He had thoughts running through his mind again. Flashbacks. How it all went down with Matthew. His heart was beating fast and he was unable to function. He was having an anxiety attack without realizing it. The girls were handling the situation very well. But moments later the amount of zombies pouring out the building started to get overwhelming. Did they underestimate how many were actually in there? As Valeria pulled the spear out of the zombie another lunged towards her, Valeria swiftly poked the opposite end of the stick through its eye. Then she dashed over to take out the group of three zombies coming her way. Bailey gets concerned, she doesn’t want Valeria to overdo it and get hurt. Bailey goes in to cover her. Bailey yells “Jacob! What the hell are you doing??? Come over and help us!” Jacob gasped. He finally snapped out of it and ran over to help. While Bailey followed Valeria to cover her back Bailey barely dodges a lunging attack from a zombie. She fell butt first to the ground. Jacob began to panic. He feared what was about to happen to Bailey.

Jacob launches himself to the front to protect her and help took out the zombies. Valeria came dashing in and took down the last two zombies by herself. All of the zombies were put down. Once she was safe Jacob offered his hand to help Bailey up. She got up by herself in anger. She said “What the hell were you playing at, Jacob?” Jacob says “What? You’re blaming me? I told you guys to leave it alone!” Bailey says “No. It would’ve been fine if you had actually helped! but instead you just stood there like an idiot jacking off at the back! Did you want us to die???” Jacob “I wasn’t trying to-“ Bailey cuts him off and says “If you’re just gonna pussy out on a simple job then you should’ve just stayed in the hummer! You’ll get people killed with that attitude.” Bailey walks away in anger. Valeria stares at him. Jacob glares at her and says “What are you looking at?” as if it was here fault. Valeria replies “Nothing.” and walks off.

Angelina, Ally, and Carl had split up to search different buildings in order to speed up the process. Unfortunately that didn’t help them in their quest to find explosive materials. But realistically speaking, what kind of explosives would you find in a college? The three of them grouped back up. Ally says “No luck.” Angelina says “Same.” Carl says in frustration “Ugh! It’s so annoying that we can’t find any form of fuel or gas to start things up. Not even alcohol! This is so twisted...”

while they were walking Ally had noticed a cafeteria. Ally says “Hey, did we check there yet?” Angelina looks over, she says “No... Definitely not. Let’s go over to look! There must be gas there.” the three of them run over to the cafeteria, only to be stopped in their tracks. Angelina says “Shit!” Carl says “Oh man... Can we get a break? Can we???” the cafeteria was filled to the brim with zombies. Ally says “There is no way we can get in there...” Angelina says “How many would you estimate being in there? 30, 40 zombies? Maybe even 50 possibly?” Carl says “Too many for even all 6 of us to handle. We would get screwed over, hard!” Angelina says “We need to go tell the others.”

Anna and Isabella wait patiently in the hummer. They feel a little anxious being alone for this long, but the two best friends being together makes them feel a little more at ease. Isabella says “Anna?” Anna replies with an “Mm?” Isabella asks “Do you think we’ll get there? To that hideout?” Anna replies “I’m sure we will, we always find a way out of things.” Isabella says “You seem optimistic.” but Anna replies saying “I’m not really optimistic, just wanting to lay back and see how things turn out. I guess this is a way of me saying I’m trying not to stress myself out.” Isabella says “True. Getting stressed and worried doesn’t help. But sometimes you just can’t help it, you know?” Anna says “Yeah...”

Yuki scratches at the door, it looks like she wants to get out. Isabella asks “What is it, Yuki?” Anna says “She might want to go pee or something. It’s been a while since she got to.” Isabella says “Oh, right.” she opens the door and lets Yuki out. Isabella says “Don’t go too far, Yuki!” Yuki runs off while wagging her tail, she goes in the bushes to pee. Molly keeps herself occupied singing nursery rhymes.

♪ _The itsy-bitsy spider climbed up the water sprout_ ♪

A zombie came shuffling down the road, approaching close to the hummer.

♪ _Down came the rain and washed the spider out_ ♪

After taking a leak Yuki appeared from out the bushes walking and panting her way back to the hummer.

♪ _Out came the sun and dried up all the rain_ ♪

The singing caught the zombie’s attention, it continued to drag itself towards the vehicle.

♪ _And the itsy-bitsy spider climbed up_ -♪

The zombie threw itself onto the left side of the window. Molly gets interrupted and screams in fear. Isabella screams a bit with fright, and Anna gasps and jolts back from the jump scare of the zombie slapping its hands onto the window. Yuki notices the zombie and starts to bark and growl at it. Isabella tries to shush Yuki, telling her “Shh! It’s okay! Please, stop barking!!” she slightly opens the right side of the door and tries to call her back inside, but Yuki was too alarmed by the zombie. She stood there and continued to bark and growl at it. Other zombies down the road felt the presence of another zombie desperately trying to claw at something. They moved to the direction of the hummer.

Isabella saw that the zombies down the road were now coming their way. She nervously tries to hurry Yuki into the hummer but she won’t budge. Being frustrated Isabella raised her voice slightly higher at Yuki, saying “Yuki! Come on! Please!!!!” Anna says “Isabella, we have to let Yuki run on her own. Lock the doors, now!” Isabella says “But Yuki...” Anna says “We can’t risk it! Yuki should be okay, she can run!” Isabella shuts the door and locks it. They both lock all the doors and made sure the windows were completely sealed. The zombies arrived and started clawing at the windows. Molly starts screaming and crying in fear. The hummer was covered with zombies. One of the zombies approached Yuki’s barking but Yuki ran away into the bushes. Anna holds Molly tight and covers her face, trying to block the zombies out of her vision.

Anna says to herself “Come on guys...” she looks around the windows and sees zombies clawing and grabbing from all four corners.

“Please... Hurry!”

Angelina, Ally, and Carl stood and waited by the front entrance for the others to arrive. After waiting a few short moments Jacob, Bailey, and Valeria show up. Bailey appears to be walking angrily. She power walks with her fists clenched when angry. Angelina asks “Is everything alright? What’s wrong?” Bailey says “Nothing. So, what did you find?” Ally says “A cafeteria. We wanted to check if gas was inside but the cafeteria is swarming with zombies.” Carl says “There were dozens of them! I don’t think the six of us alone can handle them...” Valeria says “If there is only like 20-25 of them then it should be no different than what we’ve dealt with back there. We can handle it.” Angelina says “Worse. We’re pretty sure there is at least double of that number.” Valeria says “Ooof! No way we can do that!” they stood there silent for a moment. The others had noticed Jacob hasn’t said a thing. Angelina asks “Are you guys sure everything is okay? You seem very quiet, Jacob.” Jacob ignores the question and says “We’re getting later into the day now and we haven’t got shit done yet. Leaving isn’t an option either.” Angelina says “So...?” Jacob replies “So show me the cafeteria. Maybe there is a way around the back.” Angelina says “Okay then.” the crew went back to the cafeteria.

They crouched behind the dumpster sitting outside of the cafeteria. Ally asks “What’s the plan?” Jacob says “From the looks of it the kitchen is at the back and the zombies have filled the building from the cafeteria to the kitchen. We’ll need to drive them out, get inside, take the gas and make a run for the fields.” Angelina says “Assuming the gas canisters aren’t giant bottles...” Jacob says “We won’t know ‘til we get in.” Angelina says “I suppose.” Angelina’s walkie-talkie makes a static noise. Angelina says “I think that’s Anna and Isabella.

She answers them, asking “What’s up?” Isabella replies nervously, saying “We’re surrounded by zombies!” Angelina says “Are you guys in the hummer? Did you lock all the doors??” Isabella responds with “Yes. But please come back as quickly as you can!” Angelina says “As long as you guys are safe! We’ll get to you as soon as we can, just hold on.” Angelina says “They’re surrounded by zombies. We gotta get this thing together, fast.” Carl asks “Agreed. So how will we drive them out?” Jacob says “Fire, noise, playing as bait. We have multiple ways of pulling this off.” Ally says “Wait, I saw a sound system in the gym...” Angelina says “Really? That’s good! We could lure them to the gym and that will create enough safety distance for us.” Ally says “Except the system looks torn apart, I’m not sure if we can make it work.” Bailey says “One way to find out.”

The crew ran into the gym and immediately went to the sound system. They tinkered around with it and turned the system on. Jacob says “Amplifier works, but the speakers are dead.” Angelina says “Shit. Nothing ever goes straight forward with us, does it?” Carl says “Maybe check the storages? If we search every storage room in the college we could find some.” Jacob says “Better make it quick, we ain’t got much time.” they split up into groups of two. Carl and Jacob found one giant speaker inside the gym’s storage. It took a lot of effort to get out and Carl struggled hard to pull it out. Mostly Jacob did all the hard carrying.

Bailey and Valeria found an abandoned room on the second floor of the college that held a couple more large speakers. The two of them dragged it downstairs. Angelina and Ally didn’t find speakers but helped Bailey and Valeria out while they were bringing the speakers halfway. They got to the gym and said “This is all we could find!” Jacob says “That’s perfect! Let’s get this thing started up.”

He connected the wires and turned the power on. He twisted the nob onto full volume and pressed play. A sharp loud static noise beamed from the speakers. It deafened the crew a little bit, but it was definitely working. The zombies started shuffling out of the cafeteria and moved to the gym. The noise was too loud for the group to hear each other so they signaled each other to leave the gym. They ran out of the gym and watched from a distance. Most of the zombies moved into the gym. Angelina says “Alright, let’s go!”

The group went into the cafeteria and saw some lingering zombies straying around. Bailey asks “Why aren’t they attracted to the noise? I thought sounds affect them.” Angelina says “I’m not sure, but we need to clear these things out.” she steps over the piled debris in the cafeteria and stabbed it in the head. The others took out the rest of the zombies, taking them down one by one. Afterwards they went to the kitchen. The crew went to the kitchen’s storage to access the gas.

Angelina says “Aw shit, I knew this was gonna be an issue.” the gas canisters were huge. They weren’t normal sized canisters you could carry. Bailey says “So what now?” Ally suggests “How about we start the explosion here?” Bailey says “Huh?” Ally says “It’s perfect. We open them so that the gas flows through the building, then, we set it on fire and boom!” Angelina says “It technically will work the same as our field explosion idea, so I don’t have a problem going with that.” the others nod.

Bailey says “So we just turn on the gas, evacuate the building, and then set it on fire. But what do we set it on fire with?” Jacob says “Fire, obviously.” Bailey says “I meant the method of starting it, Dumbass! Unless you intend to light it with a matchstick you can volunteer on your own.” Jacob says “Molotov. It’s the safest way we can do it.” despite her being aggressive with her statement he chose not to argue with her, not now.

Valeria says “Let’s make this shit go boom!” Ally says “Not so fast! We need to open the college gates.” Valeria says “On it!” and runs out the cafeteria to open the gates. Ally says “Wait, let me come with you! It’s not smart to go alone.” she followed after her. The rest of the group loosened the gas canisters, causing a flow of gas to come out. Angelina says “Give it a few moments and we should be good to go.” Jacob grabs a bottle of alcohol and rag. Jacob says “I’ll exit from the back window.” Angelina says “You sure?” Jacob replies “Yeah, I’ll throw it from the back and then rejoin with you guys.” Jacob waits for the others to evacuate.

They move far out to the front, staying in the safe zone. Angelina yells “Alright! You’re good to go!” Jacob jumps out the back kitchen window with the Molotov. As he jumped out a zombie shuffled to his direction. He had no other weapon on him currently besides the gun he always has tucked in his pants. It got closer to him but he wasn’t bothered, not even a little bit. As soon as it was just a few meters away he kicked it down and stomped on its head, crushing it’s skull into mush. He walked away far enough and stood in position to throw the Molotov. With all his strength he threw the Molotov cocktail into the window and the place went up in flames. Although the group were expecting it they still were startled and jumped back. Jacob rejoined them and said “Let’s get out of here.”

Anna and Isabella were starting to lose it. Molly was screaming and crying her eyes out, and the zombies were still surrounding the hummer after so many hours. Anna was tempted to just get out and shoot them all, but Isabella had to convince her a couple of times not to. Anna was getting sick of seeing Molly being in such a stressful situation, crying her eyes out until they were red and puffy. Anna wanted it to stop, she didn’t want to see her suffer anymore. She was reaching her breaking point.

A few moments later a loud explosion can be heard. Isabella gasped. The explosion got the surrounding zombies attention. They moved away from the vehicle and started moving to the college. Anna sighed in relief. Isabella says “You’re right, Anna. We always find a way.” she smiles at her. Anna says “Yeah. But now I’m more concerned for how late it is outside. It’s getting dark...”

The group exited the same way they came in by getting over the wall. As they approached the hummer they had noticed it was covered in blood and bits of flesh. They rushed to the vehicle, worried if Isabella and Anna are alright. They tried opening the door but it was locked. They couldn’t see inside because of the mess covering the windows. A short moment later and they heard the lock click. Anna opened the door.

Angelina says “Thank goodness you guys are alright!” and Bailey asked “What happened?” Anna says “Zombies, they sensed we were inside and surrounded us for hours.” Valeria looks for Yuki and notices she isn’t inside. She asks “Where’s Yuki?” Isabella says “Oh... She went out to pee, and I tried to get her back inside before the zombies came... but-“ Valeria says “Please tell me she didn’t get hurt...” Isabella says “No! She just... ran away.” Valeria says “No! Yuki!!!” Valeria walked to the middle of the street and tried calling out for her. She made a whistling call. Saying “Yuki! Come here girl! Come back!” there was nothing. She whistles again, and says “Come Yuki! I’m back! Valeria is here!” there was still nothing. Valeria starts to frown.

A few seconds later there was some rustling in the bushes. Yuki leaps out of the bush with her tongue sticking out. Valeria says “Yuki!!!!” Yuki runs to her, Valeria grabs and picks her up. Valeria says “Good girl! You’re safe now.” Jacob says “We have to go, evening is approaching fast.” Valeria says “Geez, I just reunited with my dog. Can’t we have a moment to celebrate our reunion?” Angelina says “It’s not just the night I’m worried about anymore...” Bailey says “What is it?” Angelina says “Look, the clouds.” they look up into the sky. Thick coated gray clouds cover the sky, not a single gap is left open to see the sunset. Angelina says “If rain falls while it’s dark... things could get really difficult for us.” Jacob says “We need to go.” everyone stepped inside the hummer. Bailey says “I just hope rain doesn’t fall yet.”

The crew gets back on track to the main road again. But before they could even plan their next move, night fell. And gradually the rain started falling. Angelina says “Shoot... it’s getting hard to see.” Ally asks “What’s next on the map?” Bailey opens up the paper and flashes her touch to see. She says “Uhh... we’ll have to try looking for landmarks. Try to find an Office Building!” Anna says “Gee, easier said than done. Sigh, let me see...” the crew focuses their eyes as hard as possible to see through the dark rainy night. As a faint lightning flashes Ally says “I think I saw it!” Bailey asks “Where?” Ally points “There!” the crew looks as hard as they could, but they cannot see anything. Bailey says again “...Where?” Ally says “Just focus!” as the lightning flashes again but brightly this time they saw the tall office building. Bailey says “Okay, I see it! I think now we turn left.” Angelina takes the turn.

Ally says “Next?” Bailey replies “Abandoned Pawn Shop.” Anna says “That will be a lot harder to find considering it will be much smaller than the Office.” Bailey says “It says on the map we should spot a signboard before we see the shop.” the crew waits patiently until they reach close to the destination. As time went by, the rain came down heavier, and it became harder to see through thick layers of rain water. Angelina says “Argh, I can’t see crap!” Bailey says “Just drive slowly.” Angelina replies “I am!” Angelina adjusts her eyes sharply to see the road. Before she could even react a zombie appeared right in front of the bumper. She accidentally ran it over, causing the vehicle to have a big **THUMP**. The crew made sounds of distress. Angelina says “Ooof! Sorry guys, I’m really having a hard time seeing through this.”

Carl says “Wait! What’s that?” Angelina drives up to it slowly. It was a huge sign that says **Ruby’s Pawn Shop**. Bailey says “Nice find, Chubby! Being useful for once.” Carl says “What does that mean??? I’ve been useful before!!!” Ally asks “What now?” Bailey says “Drive straight, find a Car Park, go inside the car park, and look for a hidden path. Then follow the hidden path until we get there.” Angelina says “That’s what the map says?” Bailey says “Yup.” Angelina says “Let’s do it then.” Anna says “I really and truly hope this is our last destination until we get official rescue.”

They drove ahead for about 10 minutes more. It feels like it has been longer but Angelina is driving slowly because of the rain. Which was why it felt like they were going on forever. Lightning flashes again and Valeria spotted a big open area with a few vehicles inside. Valeria says “I spot something!” Bailey asks “Where? Where??” Valeria points “Car Park!” Bailey says “Oh my god, finally!” Angelina drove up closer,

but it wasn’t what they thought it was. There were a couple cars parked in front of a Motel. Angelina says “I don’t think this is it...” Bailey says “The heck? There was no Motel landmark on the map...” Anna asks “Do you think we’ve passed it by accident?” Bailey says “We couldn’t have! We would’ve seen it.” Angelina says “To be fair, the rain is so heavy we can’t see anything. It’s totally possible we have passed it...” Bailey says “Grrr... I really hope we haven’t. Ugh, let’s just keep going!” Angelina says “Alright.”

They kept going, but there were still no car park in sight. Jacob says “I really don’t like how far we’re going. We must’ve passed it.” Bailey says “Stop the car...” Angelina says “What?” Bailey says “I said, stop the car!” Angelina hits the breaks and stops the car. Angelina asks “What’s wrong?” Bailey says “Something doesn’t feel right...”

She opens up the paper again and looks at the map again and again. It doesn’t look like she read it wrong. Bailey says “Where the hell is it...” Carl nervously says “Uhm... g- guys...” Bailey answers “What, Chubby? I’m starting to get really pissed...” Carl says “What... is... that...” the crew looks up ahead. There was an eerily scary figure ahead. It was tall and big, slender at the bottom, but spread out wide at the top. It didn’t look human at all. The figure started moving. Isabella says “It’s... moving towards us.” as the figure got closer the crew could get a clearer vision of it. As it got in the headlight’s range what the crew witnessed was shocking.

It was a deformed overgrown zombie. Big head, arms, and shoulders. But the rest of its body was slender. The crew were in shock. Their mouth was gaped wide open wondering what in the world that thing was. Molly was luckily sleeping, so she did not get to witness the horror. In fact her seeing this beast would cause her to have permanent nightmares. Angelina whispered to herself “What the fuck...” Carl says “The hell is that!!!” Jacob replies “I have no idea...” Bailey says “Run it over.” Anna says “Bailey-“ Bailey says again “Run it over! Finish whatever the fuck that thing is!” Angelina starts the engine and immediately accelerates, gaining momentum fast. The hummer ran into the beast. The beast flipped over the hummer and fell on the road. Angelina hits the breaks. The crew looked back to see what condition the beast was in.

The creature got back up slowly. It snapped its bones back into place. Isabella says “Oh my god...” Jacob says “What in the actual hell is this thing!” the creature stood still for a moment. The creature released a deafening shriek. It then stood in a charging position. It looked like it was aiming straight for the hummer. Jacob says “That thing is coming straight for us! Angelina, Go!” Angelina quickly switched back on the engine and drove as fast as the hummer could go. Molly got woken up by the shriek but she did not witness the horror. Ally cuddled up close to Molly and covered her head under her blanket to protect her.

Anna looked back to see if the monster was still there. It was following closely behind them while on feet. Running at abnormal speeds. Its eyes were glowing, and it looked enraged, this beast was after blood. Anna says in fear “Oh my gosh... It’s running after us! It’s freaking running after us!” some of the girls were whimpering in fear. Valeria says “It’s still after us!” Carl says “Angelina, please go faster!” Angelina says “I’m going at maximum speed! This beast is fast as SHIT!” Angelina tries her hardest to keep her cool, but deep down she is just as scared as everyone else. Up ahead a mega hoard of zombies were moving down the road fast. They were empowered zombies. Angelina says “SHI-“ she swivels off road and drives on the muddy path.

Molly screams at the uncomfortable situation. She starts to cry a little. Valeria says “They’re still on to us!!!” Yuki barks. Jacob says “Try going up hills! We can’t lose them on low grounds.” Angelina takes a sharp uncomfortable turn up the hill, driving over large rocks. The zombies struggle to climb the hill, however other zombies piled on top each other, and some of them managed to get over. Jacob says “Man what the HELL!” Bailey says “We must keep going higher!” Angelina says “I’m not sure how much higher we can go, the hummer is slowing down.” the hill started to get difficult. The wheel of the hummer got stuck on a rock. Angelina says “Shit!” Carl says “No No No No No!!!” Jacob says “Accelerate harder!” Angelina yells “I’M TRYING!” the zombies got closer each moment. The wheel budged and finally got over the rock.

Angelina proceeded to go as high as she can. Anna asks “Are we losing them?” Jacob says “Kind of, they’re still persistent.” as the crew got higher it got harder for the zombies to reach. Angelina’s eyes widen in shock as she shouts. The hummer was quickly approaching a dead end. She took a sharp turn to avoid the cliff. The hummer successfully avoided falling off the cliff, but in the process the crew got flipped over inside the vehicle. Everyone screamed as the hummer rolled several times in the mud. On the final roll the hummer landed on the roof.

The now destroyed hummer was on its back. Coated in wet mud. Jacob held his head, there was a cut on his scalp. Blood poured down his face. He asks “Are you guys alright?” everyone groaned in pain. Ally was worried about Molly, she says “Molly? Molly? Are you okay??” Molly had a slight cut on her face. Just before the crash, everyone dove to cover Molly. Molly is the only one with the least injuries, but because she’s young she needs medical attention as soon as possible.

Jacob says “We have to go...” he coughs “We can’t stay here, argh...” he reaches his arm towards the door and opens it. He crawls out the vehicle and helps everyone out one by one. Shrieking can be heard from the distance, but the sounds were getting closer. Anna says “We have to keep going!” Angelina picks up Molly and carries her. The crew treaded on the muddy path. Yuki follows behind them as usual.

The group were tired and injured. Sounds of pain would be muttered from their mouth every few seconds. They were breathing hard and their feet felt heavy. Anna looked back and saw them coming closer again from the distance. Anna says “Agh... come on, we have to pick up pace!” the crew kept moving along the muddy path. They had no sense of direction on where to go, they just knew they had to. They couldn’t stop or else they would die. During their tread all you could hear was heavy breathing and the sounds of wet sticky mud from their shoes. They were covered in mud and had the heavy cold rain beating down on their skin. Carl felt like collapsing, he felt like he couldn’t go anymore. He wished he had took care of himself and ate healthier. Doing so would’ve helped him a lot in this scenario.

He fell down into the mud. Yuki walks around him, pushing her head against him and encouraging him to get up. Bailey scolds him, she says “Come on! You can’t quit now, you fat ass!!” Carl says “It’s too hard... I can’t take it anymore!” Bailey yells, saying “QUIT WHINING! YOU’RE SLOWING US DOWN, CHUBBY!” Carl says “Go without me...” Bailey says “What? Stop fucking around and GET UP! What’s wrong with you???” Anna says “We aren’t leaving you behind, Carl. We’ve gotten through this together, and if anything we will end together.” Jacob got irritated. The zombies were coming closer, and to him Carl was just holding up time. He wanted to leave without him. Jacob says “If we stay here we’ll die. Now either you get your ass up and move or you die!” although he felt like he could collapse and never wake up again Carl eventually gathered himself together and got a move on. They forced themselves to travel forward.

As they were pushing their hardest to get ahead Angelina jolts back and yells “WOAH!” Isabella gasps. It was a cliff! Jacob growls in frustration, he says “This way.” they were about to take a turn for the left until they realized they were surrounded. Zombies were rushing over the hill. The crew were cornered. The zombies were quickly closing in. Carl began to cry, he said “Are we really going to end like this...?” Jacob grits his teeth, he says “I would rather jump down a cliff than become these gross pieces of crap!” thoughts started to rush through their minds. Anna thought to herself **”Did we go through all that just for things to end like this?”** Bailey thought **”What was the point surviving raiders if we were going to die anyway?”** Ally thought **”Is this how we die? I know there are 100s of ways to die, but this was the least on the list...”** and Jacob thought **”What a shit as fuck way to die...”**

They went from thoughts to thinking about their last memories. They were minutes away from their fate. It was a horrible feeling.

Angelina says “Do you here that??” Jacob says “Wh-“ a loud roaring could be heard. It sounded like a vehicle, but more than one. Camouflaged trucks and hummers came driving in. They were shooting down the hoard with machine guns and bazookas. All zombies fell like flies. What remained on the ground was there rotting flesh.

The people exit out of the trucks and hummers. They looked like military soldiers. The soldiers looked to be led by a woman. She had a black tank top, green cargo pants, a military cap, and dark sunglasses. Who even wears sunglasses at night especially in the rain? The woman said to the crew “Are you people alright? How in the hell did you get out here??” Ally looked surprised. She seemed to have recognized the woman. Bailey says “We were given directions to find some military hideout, for protection.” it took Ally a moment to get words out of her mouth, but when she finally did it brought a relieving emotion out of her.

“Ashley?”


	13. Reminiscence

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: Mentions of crimes such as rape, murder, body dismembering, and torture.
> 
> Warning 2: Major character death.

“Ashley?”

When she heard her name called she was caught off guard for a moment. She couldn’t recognize anyone due to the mud they were covered in from head to toe. But as soon as she heard that familiar soft voice she knew it couldn’t have been anyone else other than Ally. Ashley says “Well damn, I couldn’t have come at a better time.” she smiled, she then said “I’m glad you’re safe, Ally.”

The soldiers took the crew to their hidden hideout. It was the exact same place Bailey’s Father gave her directions to go to. Except that the crew had totally missed the car park just a couple minutes back. If only the air was clear they would have not made that mistake. They went through the car park and took the hidden path. It was a long dirt road that led to a giant gate. Next to the gate was a keypad and eye scanner. The soldier walked up to the pad and stood close, he faced the scanner at an eye level and his eye was scanned. On the security pad appeared a green message saying **Access Granted**. The large gates opened and the soldiers drove inside.

There was a wide open ground with a building inside. It looked like a typical military base but it was also a bit small to be one. From the outside you wouldn’t be able to tell it was a military hideout from how tall the gate and walls were, but from the inside you would definitely know it was something military related. The hideout was concealed by large hills and rocks, so there were definitely a lot of people that had no idea about this place. The soldiers parked up near the building and took the crew inside.

The crew were tired, hungry, and injured, so not much words were exchanged between them and the military soldiers. They were taken to the infirmary to get their wounds patched up. Then they were shown their rooms where they can stay. Immediately they went to shower off the mud they were covered in. They were offered food to eat but some of the crew were too beat to even do so. Some went straight to bed and some others went to eat. Overall, after they have arrived there nothing much has happened besides eating and sleeping.

Next morning the crew woke up and had breakfast. They were given their own separate room to eat breakfast in. The room didn’t look so much like a place to go dining in. It honestly looked no different from an interrogation room. The building overall was pretty unfurnished and a lot less “homey” than the last place they were at. But that’s to be expected considering that the place is more likely used for heavy military tech stuff. The crew entered the room and breakfast was already placed on the table. Cereal, bread, and milk was all that was on the menu today. The group all took a seat at the table.

Carl says “The breakfast is very limited, huh.” Angelina replies “Beggars can’t be choosers, you take what you can get.” Carl says “But it would be nice if I could get eggs and even a little bacon...” Ally says “I thought the microwaved and canned food yesterday was a good indication to you that we won’t be getting any proper food?” Carl says “Hnnnggg, this sucks.” Bailey grabs a spoon of cereal and flicks it at him, she says “Stop complaining, chubby!” Carl covers his face and yells **HEY!** he cleans it off his sleeve. Jacob remained quiet at the table the whole time. Bailey would glance it him every now and then but he didn’t notice. In fact, he didn’t look at anyone, neither did he participate in any conversations.

Ally says “There is something I want to mention. Have you noticed that some of you guy’s names end with an A?” Anna says in amusement “I actually just realized that, haha.” Bailey says “Anna, Isabella, Angelina...” Anna adds “Valeria.” Carl says “Thank goodness I’m unique!” Angelina says “Okay, Carla.” Carl says “Hah! Nice try but it doesn’t rhyme.” Angelina replies “That would be your name if you were a girl though.” Bailey says “Or Carolina.” Anna says “Carina.” Valeria says “Karen.” Carl says “Not Karen!” Valeria says “Ok, Karen.” Carl gets annoyed and goes **Grr**. Jacob finished his breakfast then got up and left without saying anything. The others watched him leave the room. Angelina asks “Is Jacob okay? He’s been acting up since yesterday.” Carl shrugs. Bailey shows a bit of concern on her face.

Ashley and the other military personnel had a meeting in a private room. Ashley says “Let me get this straight... They’re the ones that fucked up this whole experiment but didn’t have any backup plans in case shit went down?” she says with a puzzled face. “Correct.” says the man with the blonde hair. He continues, saying “We currently have no contact with other bases, the last military squad we were in contact with was also lost, and all we have are the group of survivors they’ve sent here along with the Commander’s daughter.” Ashley asks “What happened with them?” the blonde man responds “We don’t know yet. Last message we got was that something went wrong in their lab.” Ashley says “Well great. So now we just sit on our hands and babysit the Commander’s daughter until someone responds to us.” the blonde man says “You don’t like the idea of babysitting?” Ashley says “It’s not that. You know I like going out there kicking ass and shooting people. Just sucks that I had to resort to sheltering when shit hit the fan.”

the man mentioned “And that kid named Ally? How did you befriend a kid half your age?” Ashley says “Oh, Ally? Haha. That kid is a rebel. Went out of her way to defend some other kid from bullies once. Girl busted their kneecaps and ran to hide. She just happened to hide herself at the back of my pickup truck. Went to go grab my gear at the back once and found her there.” the man laughed, saying “Hahaha, and how did you react?” Ashley responds “I won’t lie, I was pissed at first. But after she told me her story I was like _“ **Aaah why not take the kid out for lunch, she looked tired and hungry anyway.** ”_ So I took her to a chicken restaurant, got to know the kid, gave her my number, and sent her home. Told her to call me if those bully kids mess with her.” the blonde man says “I thought you hated babysitting kids?” Ashley says “Oh I wasn’t planning on babysitting her, just wanted to help her out because she’s chill.” the man teases her, saying “Or maybe you’ve got a soft spot for kids.” Ashley says “Oh please, Frank. You know damn well how many times I told people I had no intention of having kids. They’re so complicated, messy, and annoying.” Frank says “Hm, well I agree with you on that one.”

“From what I’m hearing, it sounds like you had an anxiety attack.” said the doctor in the infirmary. Jacob says “Anxiety attack? But I don’t have anxiety.” the doctor tells him “Could be from a recent event. Something probably triggered fear in you, perhaps something traumatic that happened recently? I’m no psychologist but I’ve learned some of this stuff when I went to college. And it sounds like it’s exactly that.” Jacob’s mind zoned off onto the day Matthew died, he quickly brushes off the memory and says “I don’t know what it is.” he gets up to leave. Before leaving, he says “Thanks, doc.” the doctor had a feeling he was lying about not knowing what’s causing it, but he felt he had no right poking his nose into his business. The doctor returned to doing his usual work. While exploring the base Bailey spots Jacob leaving the infirmary. She wondered what he was doing there and was wondering if he got hurt. She went to follow him.

Jacob went to his room, Bailey says “Jacob! Hey, wait!” as he was about to close the door behind him she held the door open. Bailey asks “What’s wrong with you recently?” Jacob lies to her, saying “Nothing’s wrong.” Bailey says “I saw you leaving the infirmary, did you hurt yourself? Come on, you can tell me!” Jacob says “I’m fine, Bailey. I was just checking up on my head injury.” he sits on his bed and sighs. He doesn’t even look at her. She stood by the door watching him for a moment.

Silence.

She closed the door behind her and says “Do you hate me?” Jacob lifts his head to look at her, he says “What?” Bailey says “You hate me, don’t you? When you kissed me you awkwardly left in a hurry. When I asked to hold hands you hesitated like you didn’t want to. When we were fighting zombies you stood behind and did nothing. So I’m asking, do you hate me? Do you just wish for me to disappear or something???” Jacob got up off of his bed and said “Bailey, no! It’s nothing like that! I don’t hate you, neither would I wish for you to disappear. It’s just...” Bailey says “Then why do we fight? Why do we argue so much? Why is there always a problem between us? It’s like, one moment everything is okay, then the next everything goes to shit!” Jacob says “I don’t know!” he walks up to her,

he says “Maybe we just don’t understand each other.” Bailey says “Then be honest with me.” she looks in his eyes. Jacob says “I guess the problem might be-“ Bailey intervenes, saying “Me, right? I’ve always argued with my parents too. So I’m the problem...” Jacob grabs Bailey’s hands, he says “Stop saying that!” he grips onto them tight. Jacob says “Bailey, listen... Something happened that time at the football field.” Bailey looked confused, he says “I felt fear... I felt myself falling apart... Like the world was turning upside down. And I couldn’t focus.” Bailey says softly “Jacob, I’m confused...” Jacob tells her “I had an anxiety attack. I don’t know where the hell it came from, but it didn’t feel good at all.” Bailey’s eyebrows furrow, she looked concerned. Jacob continues “When I snapped out of it I felt like I messed up. I thought I was about to be too late. The fear of losing you...” he grips onto her hands a little tighter. Bailey says “Jacob...” Jacob tells her “I’m sorry.” Bailey says “No! I’m sorry! I had no idea you were feeling like that, and I just got mad and said mean things to you. I felt angry thinking that you were being incompetent, and all this time you were feeling that way...” tears began to well up in her eyes.

Jacob says “Bailey, don’t cry.” Bailey says “I can’t help it! I feel so bad.” tears were falling down her face. Jacob hates seeing people cry, it hurts him even more when it’s someone he cares about. Jacob placed his hands on Bailey’s shoulders and pulls her forward, he presses a deep kiss on her lips. They hold it for a few moments. He pulls away and tells her “I love you, Bailey.” Bailey pulls him back in for another kiss. This time deeper and longer. For a good few minutes it felt like they were in their own world. Completely shut off from the outside. Locked in a deep passionate kiss. Swift flicks of their tongues colliding with each other. They pulled away to breathe for a moment. Bailey says “I love you too, Jacob.” she says slightly out of breath. They stood there staring at each other, catching their breath again. Love was like a stranger to the two of them. They’ve never experienced it before, neither have they thought they would. But for some reason, the words “I love you.” just came out so easily.

Noise could be heard from the other side of the door. It was just random soldiers talking and walking very loudly. The noise kind of broke the atmosphere a bit. Jacob asks “Do you want to go out for a bit? Maybe get some fresh air...” Bailey looks at him and gives him a bright smile. She says “Sure!”

Valeria was giving Yuki a bath. Isabella asked to join Valeria for some reason. While applying the pet shampoo to Yuki, Isabella asks “Did you have any pets at home? You seem to really love Yuki.” Valeria says “Yeah, I had a Maltese Poodle.” Isabella says “Really? What was her name?” Valeria replies “Oreo.” Isabella giggles, she says “You named your dog after a biscuit?” Valeria says “Yeah, she actually looks like one.” Isabella says “That’s cute.” Valeria starts rinsing the soap off Yuki. Valeria gets curious about something, she asks “So what brings you here to talk to me today? You’re usually quiet.” Isabella says “Oh... Well, um... I’m kind of a shy person.” Valeria says “A person your age shy of a kid like me?” Isabella says “My shyness doesn’t discriminate, I’m shy of anyone, really. Except Anna.” Valeria asks “Were you once shy of Anna?” Isabella says “Yeah... but she helped me open up a lot. She’s a really great person to me.” Valeria says “Aww.” Yuki gets a little jealous that Valeria isn’t paying full attention to her, Yuki shakes the water off of her body a bit and starts barking.

Valeria says “Hey! Easy, girl! Easy!” Isabella laughs. Valeria asks “So what about you? Any pets at home?” Isabella says “No. I wish I had one but I never have enough time. Work gets in the way a lot.” Valeria says “Oh.” Valeria dries off Yuki with a towel. Isabella says “You know, I’m surprised we’ve made it this far.” Valeria says “What do you mean? The raider situation? Or the zombies?” Isabella says “Everything! But I’m mostly speaking about the fact that almost all of us were complete strangers to each other. And yet, we’ve put so much trust and care into one another. Everyone gets along and we’re all friendly. I really feel blessed to have amazing people around me in this situation.” Valeria says “Is that what you think?” Isabella responds “Well, yeah! Why? You don’t think so?” Valeria says “Not that. I’m talking about everyone getting along.” Isabella says “Why? You don’t think we do?”

Valeria says “I mean... for some odd reason Jacob has this one sided beef with me. I don’t really pay any attention but I know it’s there. And it also feels like we just tolerate each other because we have no choice.” Isabella says “Oh.” Valeria continues “Don’t get me wrong. Most of you guys are nice and sweet and all but if we had the option of splitting up without being in danger I think we would’ve done it a long time ago.” Isabella shows a bit of sadness in her face. Valeria picks up Yuki and takes her out of the bath. Valeria says “I gotta take Yuki for a walk to dry off. See ya later!” Isabella says “Bye!” Valeria and Yuki walk off. Isabella thinks about what Valeria said. Although she likes to believe the idea that they’re together genuinely, she can’t help but think what Valeria said may actually be true.

Angelina walks around the building looking for the kitchen. She feels exhausted and needed to drink coffee. Angelina reaches the kitchen but she doesn’t see any coffee machine. A female soldier stood in the kitchen snacking away. Angelina asks “Don’t you guys have a coffee machine?” the woman replies “We do. But it’s not in here for some weird reason. We keep it in the strategy office where we usually plan all of our shit. Just knock on the door and I’m sure they’ll give you some.” Angelina is kind of confused why the coffee machine is in there and not the kitchen but she doesn’t bother to ask. She just says “Okay, thanks!” and walks off.

While walking she had realized that she didn’t ask where this “Strategy office” is. She says “Aww shit.” She couldn’t be bothered to walk back to ask. She says to herself “Screw it, I’ll try to find this room myself.” she sighs. Angelina peeps from room to room trying to find this machine. She says to herself “Where the hell is it?” she wanted to ask someone else where the room is but it seems like most of the soldiers aren’t in the building currently. She peeps into another room and finds Ashley by accident. It was the gym room. Since Ashley was there Angelina goes ahead to ask her where the machine is.

Ashley was hitting a punching bag. She was working out hard, covered in sweat. Angelina was about to ask but she freezes for a moment. She couldn’t help but look down. She was unconsciously staring at Ashley’s abs. She was wearing a sports bra and shorts so most of her skin was showing. Angelina says in her mind **”Damn, she looks toned as fuck.”** Ashley’s abs were feminine but prominent. You could tell she worked out often to maintain them. Ashley felt another presence in the room and turned around to look. Ashley says “Oh, hey there! Ally’s friend, right?” Angelina snaps out of it, she says “Oh, uh... Yeah. My name’s Angelina.” Ashley says “Cool. I’m Ashley if you didn’t know already.” Ashley turns back around and continues to punch and kick the punching bag.

Ashley says “So... What are you doing here?” Angelina says “Oh, uhh. I need a cup of coffee.” Ashley says “Did you check the kitchen?” Angelina says “Yes, but it’s not there.” Ashley sighs, she says “Don’t tell me those dumbasses took it from the kitchen and put it back in the office again.” Ashley looks annoyed. To finish off her training she deals a final blow to the punching bag. She kicks it hard, letting out a roar from under her breath. Angelina was a little surprised of how much strength she had put into that kick. Ashley breathes hard. After she got her breath back she says “It’s in the strategy office, a bit down the hall and to the left.” Angelina replies “I know, someone told me. But I forgot to ask where it was.” Ashley walked over to the water bottle on the table, she douses her face and upper body in water, she then gulps down the rest of it. Angelina watched her neck as she drinks down the water. Ashley tosses the empty water bottle into the trashcan. She walks up to Angelina and asks “Want me to show you where it is?” she smiles a bit. Angelina stutters a little, saying “Y- Yes. Thank you!” her eyes diverted to Ashley’s body again, she says in her mind **”She’s tall as fuck! I literally have to look up at her.”** her eyes then slowly peer at her waist **”She’s hella snatched too! My god...”** Ashley says “Follow me.” she head towards the door, Angelina follows behind her.

They walked up to the front of the door. Ashley says “Wait out here for a moment, this is usually a private room so...” Angelina says “No problem.” Ashley asks “You like your coffee creamy? Black? Any sugar?” Angelina says “Umm, a bit of milk and a lot of sugar.” Ashley says “Got it.” she walks into the strategy office. Angelina stares at her glowing tan skin, the door swings and closes behind her. Angelina slaps herself. She says “Agh! Stop staring at her like that!” she feels embarrassed. She says to herself “Why does she have to be so hot...” she breathes.

Not even 5 minutes later and Ashley comes outside with the coffee. She says “Here you go!” Angelina nervously holds the cup with both hands, she says “Thanks.” Ashley says “by the way, I’ll be passing by later to talk to you guys. We’ve never had a chance to talk yesterday cause of that situation.” Angelina says “Yeah...” Ashley says “I gotta go, catch ya later!” Angelina nervously sips the coffee while watching her walk away.

Ally and Molly were playing around. Molly cheerfully says “Yay! That was fun!” Ally says “I’m glad you’re having fun.” Molly giggles. She says “Hey, let’s play hide and seek!” Ally agrees, saying “Alright, you hide and I’ll count to 10.” Molly says “Okay. But no cheating!” Ally assures her, saying “I won’t cheat!” Molly says “Then close your eyes!” Ally tells her “I’m closing them.” Molly says “Okay, now count!” Ally begins to count. She counts “1, 2.” Molly runs and finds a place to hide quickly. “3, 4, 5...” Ally gets tired of counting out loud and does counts in her head. “10! Ready or not here I come!” she walks around searching for Molly.

While looking for her Ally notices Anna kneeling down on the grass. She walks over to see what’s up. Ally asks “Are you okay, Anna?” Anna says “Yeah, I’m fine. I was just looking at this flower bush.” Ally says “They’re so pretty. What are they?” Anna replies “Moonflowers. My grandmother loves them! She would grow all kinds of flowers in her garden.” Ally says “That’s cool! I’ve always wanted to have a garden of flowers. I have many flower paintings actually. I could show you them sometime when I’m not too lazy.” Anna says “That’s nice! You still have your paintings?” Ally says “It was the first thing I’ve made sure to save before everything happened.” Anna says “Haha, I can see how much you value your art.” Ally says “Yeah.” they sat there silent for a moment.

Anna says “I really miss my family... I know we all do, but, I was really close to them. And now I have no idea what’s happening with them.” Ally says “Same. My family is pretty big, so it’s worrying not knowing if every single one of them are safe.” the atmosphere gets a little sad. Anna says “I wish we could find out somehow. I hate feeling hopeless!” Ally says “Has Angelina told you? Ashley said she wants to speak to us later, so maybe she could help us find out.” Anna says “I really do hope so.” Anna’s mind drifts off into another space. Molly sneaks up behind Ally and tugs her shirt, she says “Hey! Couldn’t you find me? I’ve been waiting forever.” Ally says “Hmm. I did have a hard time finding you, looks like you’ve won once again.” Molly has a big smile on her face, she says “Yay! I’m really good at these games.” Ally tells her “Yes, you are.”

Evening time arrived and the crew went to have dinner. This time it was tables and chairs set outside. You could see the evening sky. There were a mixture of colors in the sky, blue, purple, and faint streaks of orange. With dotted clouds here and there. The stars were out early this evening. Some stars were cluttered, other stars were single. The view was beautiful.

On today’s menu was... microwaved mashed potatoes and chicken? The crew felt pretty unsure about it. Usually any potatoes or chicken they ate back home was fresh. We all know how professional chefs would tell you how fresh food was the best and all. The mashed potatoes was served in a large bowl, and the chicken was sitting on a large dish. Anna served the food amongst the group. When picking up the mashed potato with the spoon she had noticed the texture was grainy and it was a little bit wet and mushy. The chicken also looked a bit shrunken and shriveled up on the plate. You could tell they took these straight out of a frozen food packaging, microwaved it, and called it a day. They started to tuck in on the food. Some of the crew made strange faces when first tasting it. Bailey says “Uh... it’s a bit wet, isn’t it?” Valeria adds “And the chicken is dry as hell!” Carl says “It would’ve been nice if they gave us gravy as a side.” Angelina replies “Yeah, it would definitely help this dry chicken.” the crew expressed dislike in the food. It definitely wasn’t enjoyable but at least it was somewhat edible... if you were starved that is.

The crew had remembered that Ashley said she was coming by later, but they wouldn’t have guessed that she would show up as a dinner guest. Ashley comes by and greets everyone, saying “Hey ya’ll!” Ally says “Hey, Ash!” the others also greets Ashley back. Ashley has noticed that the crew don’t seem too eager to eat, she said “It’s bad, isn’t it? At least I know I’m not the only one suffering with this crap you call food, haha.” she glances in Angelina’s direction, Angelina blushes and shakes off the eye contact. She nervously shoves the mashed potato in her mouth. Ashley walks over and takes a seat next to her. Angelina has thoughts running through her mind again. **”Damn, why does she have to be so sexy...”** Ashley says “Hope you guys don’t mind me joining in.” she winks. Angelina bites into her fork. She says in her mind **”Her voice is so deep and raspy. And her wink...”** she bites deeper into the fork.

Ashley says “So... Anything happened back at my villa?” Ally replies “Mmm, no. We just couldn’t stay there anymore. We were stuck in a house with loads of zombies surrounding it, so we felt uncomfortable.” Ashley says “I see.” she rips off a piece of the dry chicken. Ashley says “I’m assuming all of you knew each other before the outbreak?” Anna says “Not everyone. Some of us were complete strangers but some of us already knew each other.” Bailey adds “Jacob, Valeria, Carl, and I are from the same highschool but from different classes. Ally is also from our school but we didn’t know her until the outbreak. Anna and Isabella are best friends. And I think Angelina was alone.” Anna also adds “We found and rescued this small child called Molly, we also rescued a pet dog named Yuki.” Ashley says “Wow! From how close you guys were I assumed you already knew each other. Though you guys are also kinda misfits because of the age gaps.” Isabella says “We may have age differences but we all treat each other equally.”

Molly was slowly starting to fall asleep, Isabella says “I’ll put her to sleep.” she picks Molly up and carries her. Ashley says “Was it always just you guys or did you used to have more people with you?” Ally says “Umm...” Anna says “I wouldn’t say we had more people per se but we’ve been put in situation where we had other survivors. Some being unpleasant, others not being able to make it.” Carl adds “We would’ve had another friend from our highschool but... he got bitten and didn’t make it.” Jacob stares the other way and grips his fist. Bailey lowers her head with a bit of sadness. Angelina says “Molly had also lost both of her parents. Her mother was allegedly bitten, and her father murdered by a raider.” Ashley says with some concern “Man, it sounds like you guys have been through your own share of sadness.” the group nods in agreement. Ashley says “Being in the military I’ve also lost a fair share of good soldiers. Both in and out of the apocalypse. It hurts, but you eventually have to move on. Life just works like that. It’s harsh and cruel.” Ally agrees, saying “Yeah.” Angelina says “Life’s a bitch.” Ashley laughs, she says “You’ve got that right.” Angelina blushed a bit from her laugh.

Ashley says “You lot probably don’t need to hear this from me since you look like a tough bunch but when bad shit happens, don’t dwell on it! It will eat you alive, trust me.” although this was general advice for some reason Jacob feels like this advice is directed at him in some way. It would’ve been nice if Jacob had known earlier not to kick his own ass over an incident, but it feels way too late for that piece of information now.

But let’s be real, Ashley’s advice probably wouldn’t have helped him back then anyway.

Ashley says “Hmm, I’ve been meaning to ask this yesterday but it slipped my mind. How in the actual hell did you guys make it that far on foot?” Valeria answers “We didn’t come on foot.” Ashley asks “Then why weren’t you in a vehicle?” Bailey says “We actually came here in the hummer you’ve left back at the villa.” Ashley says “You did? What happened to it?” Ally says “Well...” Anna says “Sorry to say this but... when we were following the directions to come to this place we got caught up with zombies. This giant zombie chased us along with the regular zombies, and we tried to escape them by driving up hill.” Angelina adds “I almost drove over a cliff and abruptly turned. Spun out of control and flipped the hummer over.” Ashley said “Really? Ah shit...” Angelina says “Sorry.” Ashley replies “It ain’t your fault. I’m just happy I’ve found you guys in time.” although she felt bad Angelina was glad that Ashley didn’t flip out about it.

Ashley says “Last night we were actually planning an operation. We’ve noticed the huge influx of zombies in the area and wanted to scout their behaviour before we made plans on how to get rid of them. One of my men that was scouting on the hills spotted a group of survivors running. We immediately changed plans and went to rescue you guys.” Isabella came back after helping Molly fall asleep.

Ashley says “Welcome back!” Isabella says “Thank you! Anna, have I missed anything major?” Anna says “Ashley was just telling us how she was out on a mission and changed plans to rescue us as soon as her team saw us.” Isabella thanks Ashley, saying “Ah. I’m really thankful to you and the other soldiers, Ashley.” Ashley says “It’s the most I could do. But I’m gonna be honest with you guys, if we weren’t doing any operations that night I don’t think you guys would’ve made it...” Jacob says “We’ve got our asses saved multiple times before, it’s nothing new anymore.” Ashley says “You guys must have luck on your side then.” Isabella says “I’d call it “being blessed” in my words.” Jacob says “Feeling like you owe people is not a good thing.” Ashley responds “Well, at least you could say you “survived”, not everyone gets to say the same.” Ashley drops a piece of chicken bone back into the plate.

Ashley continues “You don’t need to feel in debt to me. If someone is entitled enough to feel like they need to be owed something just for saving one’s life, then they haven’t done that out of good will now, have they? They just did it so they can gain the right to say “You owe me.” and these are the same people that may end up killing you anyway.” she gets up off of her chair. Ashley says “I think I’m done for the night. It was nice talking to ya’ll, but now I gotta figure out how to salvage my hummer. Goodnight!” everyone said **”Goodnight!”** back to her. In a way, the exchange Jacob and Ashley had between each other felt rather aggressive. Her tone suddenly changed too. It’s like Ashley felt offended at the fact that Jacob thought of things like that. To be fair the way Jacob said it really came off in poor taste. Angelina says “Ugh, I can’t eat this crap anymore.” She drops the plate on the ground for Yuki to eat the leftovers. Valeria asks “So what do we do now? It’s too early to go to bed.” Angelina suggests “We could chill by the campfire and tell stories...” Anna says “I’d love that!”

The crew sat by the warm campfire. They were sharing past memories and stories. Carl says “Do you guys remember our first year in highschool? We all acted so strange with how we met each other.” Bailey says “Yeah, especially when Jacob first walked into the school. Hah, he would always walk with his chin high up.” Carl replies “Oh yeah! He would even try to pull some kind of badass walk too!” Jacob refutes the statement, saying “No I did not! I just didn’t know anyone there so I minded my business.” Bailey says “Oh please! You would walk in school like you’re some kind of delinquent. Wearing your black leather jacket with your chin high in the air and your fists clenched.” she laughs. Carl says “Don’t forget when some kid introduces themselves to him he would cut a side look at them and say “What do you want?” hahaha!” Bailey says “And it’s even worse if the person is shorter than him, he really tried to look like a thug.” Jacob goes “tch.” he gets kind of flustered thinking about it.

Jacob mentions “I remember when you gave Carl the stink eye as soon as you met him.” Bailey responds “I gave him that look for a reason.” Carl says “That’s because you’re very mean!” Bailey says “No, chubby. You had peanut butter around your mouth and I was disgusted. I knew you were a slob.” Ally giggles a bit, saying “Heh, slob...” Carl says “Well no one told me that!” Jacob chuckles. Bailey adds “I also remember when Carl slipped on a plushie and rolled down the stairs like a ball.” Angelina burst out laughing, she says “That sounds funny as hell!” Carl says “So what? Is it now “ **let’s tell stories about Carl at the campfire** ” time?” Bailey says “Nah, it’s just that you have most of the funny moments.” Carl starts to pout. Valeria wanted to share some stories too, but she did not feel so comfortable because of Jacob. Bailey had noticed Valeria hasn’t chimed in and decided to think of a past memory that involves her.

Bailey says “Do you guys remember the time when Valeria created a volcano made entirely out of Cheetos for a class project?” Carl says “Oh yeah, how did you do that?” Valeria says “I don’t know... I just did I guess. My favorite part was making the lava.” Bailey says “The way the lava was made out of hot Cheeto sauce was cool!” Carl says “Bailey, do you remember that MMO RPG game we played where our ass kept getting beaten by that overlord?” Bailey says “Yeah! I remember the rumors about the overlord being a student at our highschool but we could never figure out who.” Carl tells her “We did get to figure it out though...” Bailey says “Really? Who was it? I remember quitting because I got bored of that game.” Carl says “It was Valeria! That’s how she became popular, remember? Everyone thought she was cool for being unbeaten for the longest time ever!” Bailey says “Really? I actually forgot all about that...” Bailey just noticed that Jacob is now the one that’s not chiming in on the conversation. She realized there is definitely something going on between him and Valeria.

Carl says “How about the rest of you guys? Any stories to share?” Bailey says “Yeah, I’m sure you’ve heard enough of the nonsense that went on at our school. Tell us more about the adult life.” Angelina says “I don’t really have much to say...” Anna says “I have something! So one time I pulled a prank on Isabella. We went out to eat dinner and I wanted to pull the prank at this restaurant. The idea I had for this prank is that I steal her purse and I pretend I’ve lost mine so that once the food bill comes we’re technically both broke. So I successfully stole her purse before we went to eat. Once we were done eating the food bill came and we both agreed to split the bill 50/50. She tried to reach for her purse but couldn’t find it. So I tried reaching for mine and I acted like I’ve lost mine too! Isabella looked so sad and worried, I kind of felt bad...” Isabella says “Yeah, I totally remember that! You were really good at acting.” Anna says “Haha, I actually wanted to drop the prank sooner because of how sad you looked.”

Angelina asks “What happened next?” Anna says “Isabella kept apologizing to me, saying that even if I lost my purse and she still had hers she would’ve gladly paid for both of our meals. I thought that was very sweet of her! But I kept telling her that it’s not her fault and that we both got robbed. She even told me to wait at the restaurant for 15 minutes while she goes back home to get money for the bill.” Bailey says “Aww, really?” Anna says “Yes. She kept insisting. So I finally dropped the act and told her it was a prank. Her worried face quickly wiped away and she started smiling and laughing.” Angelina says “Aww. That was very sweet of you, Isabella.” Isabella blushes and shyly says “It’s nothing.” Ally says “That story is actually cute.” the crew stared at the fire for a moment. Bailey asks “Hey, should we do a story time? Maybe ghost stories?” Ally says “Yes!” Isabella says “That’s scary.” Angelina asks “Who’s going to tell the story?” Valeria quickly says “ME ME ME!” Bailey says “Definitely Valeria! She knows how to add some spice to a story.”

Valeria says in a low creepy voice “It begins...” she cracks her fingers and breathes in.

She starts, saying “Once upon a time a boy was lurking around the garden. It was getting late and coming closer to the evening, but the boy did not want to return yet. As he travelled through the garden he sees something, it was a mansion. A dark, creepy, scary, but alluring mansion. There was something about it that somewhat tempts you to go inside and look at it. And that is exactly what they boy did.” Isabella says “Oh no.” Valeria continues, she says “The boy enters the mansion, the door makes a loud creaking noise. The mansion was very old and dusty, cobwebs all over the ceiling, and furniture that looks like it hasn’t been touched for years. The boy walked inside.” Isabella says “No, don’t walk inside!” Valeria continues “The door suddenly shut behind the boy. He was startled, and a little scared, but he kept on going. The boy looked around the mansion, staring at old paintings and artifacts. He was kind of scared, yet so amazed by the mansion. He went upstairs and looked into the rooms.” Bailey comments “You can tell this is the part where things get scary.”

The story continues “He went to one of the bedrooms. It looked to be the master bedroom. He was so intrigued by the old décor. Then, there was something the boy noticed in the room. A photo sitting beside the bed.” Angelina comments “He’s going to find some scary shit!” Anna adds “Or a jumpscare!” Valeria continues “He walked to the photo, slowly. Then he picked up the picture. It was a family photo. It looked like something from the 18th century, but something was wrong.” Isabella gets nervous, she starts biting her nails. Valeria says “The family in the photo had no eyes! Black blank holes were all that the kid saw. The kid’s heartbeat started beating fast, then, the lights started to flicker in the room.” Bailey says “Eek! Oh my god. This sounds so creepy.” she continued the story “The kid was frightened by the lights flickering. Then the kid heard something that made his heart skip a beat. He had no idea what it was, but all he could hear was something that went along the lines of

“Hee Hee”

The child quickly turned off the light and backed up into the dark shadows to hide. He tries hard to calm down the breathing. He stands in the dark for a few minutes, waiting, and staring at the hallway.” Angelina says “The “Hee Hee” part sounds hilarious as hell, but why do I think something bad is gonna happen.” Valeria scared everyone with a suddenly **BOOM!** noises she makes, Isabella jumps out of her seat. Valeria says “A shadow ran across the hallway. It was far too fast to see, but the kid was frightened to death.” Ally says “Eeesh, this is actually scary...” she continues “The child waited, and then. The child couldn’t wait no more. The kid ran for his life, he ran back downstairs and straight to the front door and tried to open it but it was locked. The kid turns around and backs up towards the door, he felt something coming downstairs. The kid ran under the table and waited. Then he heard footsteps.” Isabella shuffles herself closer to Anna for comfort.

Valeria makes noise from her mouth **Thud** **Thud** **Thud** “Came the footsteps of the creature. The kid covered his mouth, trying hard not to scream. When the monster bent down and perform some kind of distorted exorcism type of shit move, the kid got to see the creature for the first time.” everybody gasps, waiting to hear what the creature was. She says “It was the Ayuwoki.” Jacob asks “What the fuck is an Ayuwoki?” Carl says “Shhh! Let’s not make her spoil it.” Valeria continues “The Ayuwoki snapped its body a few times and crawled away somewhere else. The kid quickly slid from under the table and attempted to escape again. The kid tried looking for a key, if he could find one. He looked inside the drawers and searched everywhere, and finally, in one of the drawers he found a key!” Angelina says “Yesss! Now get the fuck outta there, kid!” Valeria says “But... Once he found the key... He heard noises crawling up behind him, FAST.” Isabella nervously says “Oh nooo.” Valeria continues “The kid turned around, slowly.” Ally comments “Gosh, this is intense.” Valeria said “Finally, he heard the sound again

“Hee Hee”

When he turned around, he was face to face with the Ayuwoki. And then, BAM!” she says **BAM!** while extinguishing the campfire with water. Everyone was startled, Isabella screamed. Valeria says “Lights out! The end.” Carl says “Gosh, that’s tragic! Now you’re gonna give me nightmares.” Anna tells her “Great story! I really enjoyed it.” Valeria smiles. Angelina says “Welp, now that the campfire is out I think it’s time for bed.” Anna says “Agreed. Goodnight everyone!” everyone wished each other a good night. The crew split up and went to their own bedrooms. Jacob wanted to walk Bailey off to her room before wishing her a good night.

Jacob walked Bailey to the front of her bedroom door. Bailey says “I really enjoyed tonight. Although the food wasn’t great it was so much fun hanging out with you guys.” Jacob says “I just enjoyed being with you, Bailey.” Bailey blushingly smiles. Bailey says “Goodnight, Jacob.” Jacob says “Goodnight, Bailey.” they stared into each other’s eyes for a few moments. Jacob leaned in for a kiss. They locked with each other’s lips. What meant to be a gentle good night kiss turned into a full make out scene. They pulled away and breathed for a second. Bailey says “heheh... Goodnight.” She says again. Jacob says “Goodnight...” Bailey walks into her room. While she slowly closes her door she and Jacob stare at each other. But why are these two so dramatic though? Their bedrooms are literally just opposite each other. They were both acting like they were leaving for a long distance. Finally they got it over with and Bailey shut the door. Jacob also returned to his room.

Jacob took a shower, brushed his teeth, and crashed out onto the bed. But he felt so uneasy trying to sleep. He literally couldn’t sleep. And after trying to battle himself to sleep, he says “Nnnng, fuck it!” he jumped out of his bed, walked out of his bedroom, and went straight to Bailey’s door. Not even a second later and Bailey opened the door. She was in her bed robe. She says “Jaco-“ not even giving her a chance to fully say his name he closes in on her by locking lips again. They kissed each other deeply and passionately while caressing each other. Jacob pulls away and says to her “Bailey, I love you, so much.” Bailey responds softly, saying “I love you too.” Jacob tells her “I want you to be my first... I want to be your first!” Bailey says “Me too.” Jacob picks her up, they both crash onto the bed and they start making out.

Bailey taps Jacob, trying to get him to pull away for a moment. She pulls away and says “Nn, but wait! Do you have protection?” Jacob says “... Eh?” Bailey says “Come on... Don’t expect me to have my first without condoms!” Jacob says “I- Where the hell am I supposed to find condoms?” Bailey says “I don’t know but if you don’t find any then we won’t be doing anything tonight, okay?” Jacob suggests “But, what if I just pu-“ Bailey stops him saying “Stop! No! Don’t even suggest that.” he looked annoyed but he knew he couldn’t have it his way. Jacob went to look around for some. A random soldier noticed he was looking around, at first he thought that Jacob was up to no good trying to snoop around.

The soldier says “Hey, kid! What the heck are you doing out here around these hours?” Jacob says “I need condoms.” the soldier was startled. He says “You need what?” Jacob says “Condoms. Got any?” Jacob was so blunt it’s like he didn’t care anymore. Either his personality has changed drastically to the point where he doesn’t care what others think, or his normal thinking pattern was not functioning right now for obvious reasons. The soldier said “Umm, hold on...” he walked away for a minute. Shortly after the dude came back with a pack. The guy said “Here ya go, kid.” Jacob says “Thanks.” and ran off. The soldier said “Strange dude.” and went back to his usual duties. Jacob went back to Bailey’s room and locked the door behind him. He pounced on the bed in excitement. He leaned back in for another kiss, this time, rougher and deeper. He pulls out a packet and rips the packet open with his teeth. Bailey with a soft voice says “Jacob...” Jacob answers “Yes, babe?”

“Please, be gentle.”

Angelina had her own share of problems to think about. She’s laying on the bed, unable to sleep, all because she can’t get darn Ashley off of her mind. She doesn’t understand why she is so attracted to this girl. Has she even thought of herself as bisexual? The thought has never crossed her mind until now. She starts to have an image of Ashley in her mind, full body, everything. Angelina says to herself **”Man... she has a thicc ass.”** she slaps herself. Telling herself **”Stop it, Angelina! You need to sleep! Now!”** she tries to force herself to sleep again. Not even a second later and Ashley is back on her mind. She starts to bite her finger just thinking about her. Angelina starts weeping, she does a fake cry, saying **”Hnnnnggg I’m never gonna get her out of my head!”** she tries to think of something to get Ashley out of her head. The thing that usually helps Angelina forget things is angry thoughts. She tries to think of a past event that got her mad. And she had thought of the perfect person for that.

Richard.

She doesn’t know why he came up in her mind, he is literally the last person she ever thinks about. But it worked! She imagined beating the crap out of Richard. But not long after that, her mind twists that imagination into some weird romantic date where Angelina and Ashley are beating the hell out of Richard together. Angelina gave up trying to get her off of her mind. She just lays in bed until sleep finally takes her.

Next morning...

Today’s breakfast menu is... porridge. Angelina looked a little disgusted at how it literally looked like a bowl of slop. Maybe the cereal, milk, and bread breakfast they had yesterday wasn’t so bad...

Anna came over and took a seat. She says “Sigh, I’m not really a fan of porridge. Always been the cereal, sandwich, and eggs type of person.” Ally says “I like porridge but this ain’t it.” Valeria adds “It tastes like boogers!” Angelina felt grossed out hearing what it tasted like, she puts the spoon of porridge back in the bowl. Jacob joins in a bit late to have breakfast. He was doing sort of a happy walk and was whistling. Jacob sees the porridge and says “Ew. Think I’ll skip and have coffee instead...” everyone noticed how he suddenly seemed happy. Angelina asks “What’s up with you today?” Jacob says “Nothing.” he says a bit cheerfully. Angelina says “Hmm.” Jacob leaves with his cup of coffee while whistling.

Angelina says “Weird guy.” Anna says “His moods changes very frequently.” Angelina asks “Bipolar?” Anna replies “Maybe.” Bailey comes in to join breakfast a few seconds later. She walks into the room with her arm grabbing the other arm. Bailey says “Oh, hey! Umm, have you guys seen Jacob?” Anna tells her “He came in for coffee and left.” Bailey says “Ah, I see. Is that porridge? It looks kinda icky...” Angelina says “Yup.” Bailey says “Ehh, I’ll pass.” she leaves the room. Angelina says “That one is weird too.” Anna asks “Something going on between them?” Angelina shrugs.

Ashley had called the crew to meet her and the other soldiers in the strategy office. It’s the first time the crew has entered that room. They didn’t know what Ashley wanted to discuss with them, but they hoped it was at least some good news about their families. Ashley says “Hey guys! Come, have a seat.” they walked over to have a seat. Ashley says “Where’s the rest of ya’ll?” Anna says “Angelina is coming, she just had something she needed to do first. Bailey, Valeria, and Jacob should be on their way.” not a second later and Jacob came knocking on the door. He says “I’m here.” Ashley says “Good good.” the room was in awkward silence. It was quite obvious that Ashley wanted everyone to be here before she starts speaking what’s this about. It just felt weird coming into eye contact with soldiers randomly. Angelina came in, she said “Sorry I’m late!” Ashley says “No problem! Have a seat.” she smirks a little. Suddenly Angelina started to feel hot again...

Jacob asks “Is Bailey coming?” Bailey barges in the room saying “Here!” Valeria comes in and says “I’m here too!” Ashley jokingly says “Were you two in the playground or something?” Valeria says “Nah, I was just coming in shortly after her.” Ashley says “Well, now that you’re all here let’s begin.” Ashley walks to her seat and sits down. Ashley continues “Not sure if you’ve met him yet but this is Frank. He’s the Captain.” Angelina says “Nice to meet you, Captain Frank.” Frank nods back. Bailey asks “So what’s this about?” Ashley says “That’s what I was getting to. Over the month we have been gathering information here and there. We’ve found some information that may actually be of some interest to you.” Anna asks “Such as?”

Ashley continues “October 19th at 6:41AM the first zombie case was reported in a town called Middlefort. It happened at a pharmacy down in townley. Man in his middle 30s. Was wearing a doctor’s coat. He collapsed on the ground. Before collapsing he experienced the symptoms: cold sweat, pale skin, coughing, and sneezing. After collapsing people called the ambulance and they rushed him to the hospital. The hospital wasn’t too far away from Middlefort Highschool. They tried to get him to recover, and he eventually stopped breathing. Just as they were about to announce the time of death the man got up from his bed and attacked the nurses. The rest was history after that.” Jacob says “So everything began at the hospital and went to shit?” Ashley says “Wrong. Middlefort was the first official report. But the outbreak was happening rapidly in multiple cities. Newfort, Queton, Casanova, you name it.” Anna asks “Do you guys know how this all started? Where did this outbreak come from?” Ashley looks at Frank. Ashley and Frank stared at each other for a moment, she turns back to look at the crew and said “We don’t actually know. All we know was that it was spontaneous.” Anna says “Oh.” In disappointment.

Ashley says “We also gathered information on a dangerous raider gang. You heard of them?” Angelina says “Yeah... they kidnapped us and tried to have us as their gathering slaves. Their leader also murdered one of Molly’s parents.” Ashley said “Had a feeling you did run into them. Bastards were terrorizing the whole place during the outbreak.” Angelina says “Well, they’re dead now.” Ashley says “I’m aware.” Ashley pulls out some papers. Ashley says “Their leader’s name was Duncan Dean Harper, went by his gang name “Duke”. He used to be a cop, a dirty cop. Was married with no kids. Was about to be promoted to lieutenant. He was charged for the murder of his wife Louise Marrison and fellow police officer Mac Shelton.” Valeria says “Wow, that dude sounds as messed up as he looks.” Ashley tells her “He is. The dude had a long prison sentence right up until the outbreak. Decided to break from prison and create his own gang.” Angelina says “Ooof.” as she heard what kind of person Duke used to be.

Ashley says “He also had other gang members with him that ranged from petty to serious crimes. Jeff Mason, was a small time petty gang member. He thought it was a genius idea for him and his gang to rob a high security bank. Had to pay for it in prison. Then we have Dan Roger, a rapist and murderer. And lastly we have Lance Dickson a sadistic psychopath that tortured his victims, and Pat kegger that was charged for manslaughter. Pat would dismember body parts and place them in random areas for the police to find. What a sicko.” the crew felt uncomfortable hearing all of this. Some felt disgusted, others felt like they wanted to throw up, especially Isabella. The crew didn’t quite remember the names of each raider besides Duke, neither did they care to. But some of the names were familiar, especially with the description of their crimes that came with it.

Jacob knew for sure that rapist called Dan was the gold tooth guy. Anna was somewhat sure that this Lance dude was the guy in the mawhawk considering how he not only loved playing around with a knife in his hand, but also threatened to torture some of them. Pat was probably the bucktooth guy. Bailey says “Why are you telling us this information? Wouldn’t this be considered classified for military personnel only?” Ashley says “Since you are the Commander’s daughter we thought it would be good to share some information with you and your friends, especially considering you may be here for a while. And we can’t keep you all in the dark forever.” Anna asks “Do you think you could help us find out what happened to our families?” Ashley says “Hmm. Won’t be easy, but we’ll look into it.” Anna thanks her, saying “Okay, thank you!” Ashley gets up from her chair. She says “Alright, that will be all for now. Thank you for gathering here.” everyone got up out of their seats and went to leave. Everyone split up to do their own activities.

Bailey and Jacob walked together. Jacob says “I don’t see how that information Ashley shared with us was useful.” Bailey says “Oh come on, Jacob. You always gotta see things from a negative side...” Jacob says “I’m just being honest. The outbreak information didn’t help our case at all. And the raider information? Who the hell wants to know about those dickbags? They’re all rotting in hell right now anyway.” Bailey says “Look at it from the positive side, Jacob. The military literally never shares information with random people. Ashley was being very generous with us. Maybe she wasn’t able to share every last detail but she definitely gave us more than anyone else would’ve received.” Jacob mentions “She strictly said she told you because you are the Commander’s daughter. It’s nothing to do with generosity.” Bailey rolls her eyes and says “Okay then, she told us because I have the privilege from being the daughter of a Military Commander, happy now?” Jacob says “No. Let’s just change topic...” Bailey raised her eyebrow at him.

They walked around in silence for a short while. Bailey mentions “You know when I argued with my Dad back at the community? Gosh... I remember how stupid it was. It was kind of embarrassing.” Jacob says “Your Dad was stubborn. It’s to be expected I guess.” Bailey says “But there was literally zero point to the argument. Felt like a roller-coaster of nothing.” Jacob says “At least you got a positive out of that “nothing”, Bailey.“ Jacob smiles at her, she smiles back. Jacob and Bailey were approaching another building outside. As soon as they got close, Jacob pulled her behind the wall and kissed her. Bailey says “Nnn Jacob! Is that what you dragged me all the way out here for?” Jacob says “Nah, this was part of the reason though.” Bailey sighs at him. Jacob says “I can’t stop thinking about last night...” Bailey started to blush, she said “Umm...” Jacob tells her “All I want is you, Bailey. You’re actually the one person I deeply and truly care about.” Bailey started to melt. **”Is this what love feels like?”** She thought to herself. Jacob says “Come on, I know a secret place we can go to.”

Angelina was having another dose of her afternoon coffee. She has been drinking a lot of coffee lately. While she was walking Ashley notices Angelina. Ashley walks up to Angelina, saying “Hey.” Angelina says “Hi!” she starts to get nervous again. Ashley says “You really love coffee, huh?” Angelina says “Well, kind of? I don’t get why I’m drinking so much of it myself...” Ashley says “I might know why. When I’m lacking some good old alcohol, coffee is usually the thing I resort to.” Angelina thought what she said was interesting, she had never thought about that. Angelina decided to ask about her hummer, she asks “Did you manage to save your hummer?” Ashley says “Not yet. That shit is stuck in the mud. Got no tow truck around either.” Angelina says “Oh.” Ashley mentions “I was about to go and workout at the gym. Would you like to join me? Would be nice to sweat our ass off together.” Angelina’s temperature was starting to skyrocket. The thought of seeing Ashley’s ass and abs during workout... Ashley says “Well?” Angelina chokes a bit on her coffee. Angelina says “Cough! Um, well... Sure!”

The first thing the two of them did was ran on the treadmill. Angelina was already about to pass out, and not from running either. Seeing Ashley takes a toll on her. Ashley says “Alright, on to the next thing!” Ashley got Angelina to do various kinds of workouts. Running, crunches, boxing, push ups, you name it. Angelina did start to actually feel exhausted. Working out isn’t really part of her usual schedule. Still, it would be embarrassing to give up in front of a female soldier like Ashley. Angelina pushed herself to keep going. Ashley says “Next we’ll be doing squats!” Angelina says “Hold on Ashley, I need water...” Angelina went to get water. It was a good chance to breathe for a few seconds at least. Ashley already started without her. When Angelina turned around the first thing she saw was Ashley’s big ass squatting down. Angelina says “God...” Ashley asks “What is it?” Angelina says “Oh? Nothing!” she quickly puts the water bottle down and joins her.

Ally went to the storage room to find toys for Molly. Would toys be in a military building though? Ally was told that the soldiers throw whatever junk they could find in there and leave it to rot. So perhaps Ally may actually find toys there, if not, at least something that could be used as one. As soon as Ally attempted to open the door the door was being opened. She saw Bailey and Jacob leaving the storage room. The two of them look startled, they definitely wasn’t expecting Ally to be out here. Ally says “Jacob? Bailey? What were you guys doing here?” Bailey says “Uhhh... we were looking for something.” Jacob says to Bailey “Uh, I’ll see you later I guess.” Bailey nods back. Bailey stood there awkwardly in front of Ally, like a kid that’s been naughty. Ally says “Umm, lots of cleavage.” Bailey was confused at first until she looked down and realized her cleavage and bra was exposed. Bailey quickly buttoned up her shirt. Bailey pretty much figured that Ally knew what went down in the storage room between Bailey and Jacob, but they didn’t talk about it. Bailey said bye to Ally and went about her business.

Angelina and Ashley passed out on the floor. They were breathing hard and covered in sweat. Ashley says “Woo! That was one hell of a workout.” Angelina was too out of breath to respond. Ashley says “You didn’t have to try hard to impress me, you know.” Angelina looks at Ashley in confusion. Ashley continues “I never expected you to keep up with me during workout. Since I do it every day for several hours I can go on for a very long time. But I can tell you aren’t frequent with working out, so I was surprised you pushed yourself.” Angelina says “Ah... I didn’t want to feel embarrassed.” Ashley laughs.

Ashley says “You know, Angelina, you’re pretty cool.” Angelina blushes from the compliment. She says “Nawh! You’re much cooler. The way you keep healthy, kick ass, and help people. I could only dream of being like that.” Ashley says “I’m not as perfect as you think, I’ve done my fair share of shit. Haha.” Angelina says “Everyone has.” Ashley agrees, saying “Hah, true.” she breathes in to recover her breath. Angelina says “I’ve always grown up being a little distant. I just loved being free and exploring things on my own. I hated having to stay locked up on one place for too long. Or needing to tolerate people that piss me off.” Ashley says “I felt the exact same way. It’s partly the reason why I joined the Army.” she laughs. Ashley and Angelina spent most of the afternoon having conversations and bonding. Angelina still had those feelings there for Ashley, but as she got to know Ashley more she felt a lot less shy. She felt comfort around her.

Ashley says “You know... I shouldn’t really care about this but... Ah, forget it!” Angelina says “No no no, tell me! I’m listening.” Ashley says “It’s kinda a stupid thing to even get bothered about.” Angelina tells her “Spill the beans!” Ashley sighs, she says “That Jacob kid. When he said it “It’s not good to be owing people that saved your life” that really got under my skin for some reason.” Angelina says “Ignore that dude. He sometimes comes out with dumb shit, even we sometimes get tired of him.” Ashley says “But it really left me thinking all night. I’ve lost so many people. I’ve beaten myself up for not being able to save lives... It made me feel like complete shit. I was glad when I got promoted and was given the job to kill criminals and terrorists instead. It helped me feel a bit numb to my surroundings. But when I did save a life, I felt like I finally had a purpose, that I was doing something right for once. And for someone to turn around and tell you they feel burdened in debt just because you saved them is like a slap in the face. I’ve never expected shit from anybody.” Angelina tells her “What Jacob said doesn’t reflect what the rest of us think. As far as I’m concerned we all feel grateful to have you save us from that frightening night. What you and your men did for us was really big, it was brave and selfless. I’ll be honest with you, I feel like I owe you one in a positive way, in a way where if you were ever in danger I could repay the favor of saving you. I’m sure the others except Jacob feels the same way I do about that.” Ashley smiles. She says “Thanks, Angelina. You’ve really made me feel a lot better about that.” Angelina says “You’re most welcome, Ashley. And next time Jacob says some crap you just tell me and I’ll deal with his ass.” Ashley laughs, she says “Hahaha, I know you would.”

A soldier came barging into the gym room. The soldier says “Ms Margrette, It’s urgent! We need you in the strategy office right away.” Ashley quickly got up off the ground and put on her jacket. Ashley says “Sorry, Angelina. I gotta go.” Angelina says “Bye.” she hopes it’s nothing too serious.

Ashley enters the room. She asks “What’s happening?” a soldier says “Ma’am! The military squad we lost contact with earlier sent us a distorted message. We gathered from the message that they’re trapped in the forest and need rescue before night falls.” Ashley says “Which squad is it? We had more than 3.” the soldier says “We’re not certain but the frequency number is the same one as the Commander’s squad.” Ashley says “Shit...” Frank says “Get the soldiers to prepare for a rescue. We’ll need to break into units and have each unit searching in different areas of the forest. Go!” the soldiers rush to prepare for rescue.

The soldiers gather outside in their gear. The sergeant says “Alright, you cocksuckers! We’re in some serious shit this time. We’ve came into contact with a military squad lost in the forest, this squad is believed to be the Commander’s squad. We need to rescue them BEFORE NIGHT FALLS, DO YOU UNDERSTAND?” the soldiers say **”YES SIR!”** the crew heard all the noise going on outside and came out to look. Anna asks “What’s going on?” Ashley walks over to them “Hey. We’re in a serious operation right now so I can’t talk for long.” Bailey asks “What is this operation about?” Ashley was hesitant to say. A military squad contacted us, requesting a rescue team to be sent to them. Apparently they’re trapped in a forest and need to be rescued before nightfall.” Bailey asks “A military squad? Is it my Father? Is this his group of men?” Ashley says “...It’s rumored to possibly be the Commander’s squad, but we aren’t sure.” Bailey says “Oh my god...”

Ashley says “I promise to do everything in my power to rescue them all.” Bailey says “No... You have to let us come with you! I want to help!!!” Ashley tells her “No, that’s a terrible idea, trust me.” The sergeant wondered what Ashley was doing at such a time like this. The sergeant says “Officer Margrette, what the hell are you doing?” Ashley says “Sir! I’m informing the survivors on what’s going on.” Bailey begs, saying “Please! Let us come with you. We can help you find these people.” Angelina agrees with Ashley, saying “Bailey, Ashley is right. It’s too dangerous out there for us.” Bailey yells “NO! We’ve been through so much, we can handle whatever is out there for us! For god sakes... It’s my parents!!!” Frank comes walking in, he asks “What’s going on?” Bailey tells him “I want to come with you guys. My parents are potentially in danger, please, let us help you!” Frank wasn’t too keen on the idea of letting normal citizens take part in such an operation. But since Bailey is the Commander’s daughter he can understand where she is coming from.

With Ashley’s potential promotion coming up Frank thought it was a good idea to leave the decision to her, as a way to see if she is ready for the ranks. Frank says “Officer, the decision is up to you.” Ashley says “Me? But Captain...” Ashley hated when things are left up to her. But since she could be promoted in the near future decision making is something that was ready to come sooner or later. Ashley says “Okay Bailey, you win. BUT, under one condition. You must stay in the squad at all costs. No straying away!” Bailey cries tears. She says “Thank you so much!” Ashley smiles, but for some reason she still feels unsure about this. If her decision to let the crew come with them was a bad one this could not only affect her potential of being promoted, but also her conscience.

The crew went with the military soldiers for the operation. Molly and Yuki were left to stay at the hideout since it was not deemed fit for them to go. The hummers and pickup trucks drove out onto the road. Their destination was to go to Darkview Forest. There was still a lot of brightness in the sky but the sun was about to set. Jacob was in the same vehicle as Bailey, Jacob nudges her, and she looks his way. He says “Hey, don’t worry too hard, okay? We’ll save your parents.” Bailey looked super worried, but Jacob gave her a smile and she started to feel a little better. Jacob intertwines his fingers between Bailey’s and held her hand tight.

The squads entered the forest. It got dark as they drove inside, they could totally understand how the other team got lost/trapped here. The forest gave a really dark creepy horror vibe. Angelina and Ashley just happened to be in another vehicle together, along with Ally. Angelina says “It’s so dark, is this forest like a hideout for zombies?” Ashley answers “Yes.” Angelina has a surprised face. Ashley says “Don’t worry too much, it’s still daylight so they’re fairly slow and weak. The only time you should worry is when it reaches night.” Angelina gulps. She was now starting to really question if this was a good idea. Ally asks her “Are you nervous?” Angelina answers “A little.” Ally says “Interesting.” Angelina asks “Why?” Ally says “It’s because you’re usually the most calm and collected person in this group.” Angelina says “Well things feel different this time.” Ally didn’t say anything more but she silently agrees with her. She feels a little uneasy herself.

The units park up in the middle of the forest. The sun barely gets to shine between the thick trees. Everyone exits their vehicles. Ashley says “Alright guys! Listen up. Despite the zombies actually coming out around 6 you’ll actually be able to continue this search until a little before 7. Why 7? Because at 6 o’clock there is still some daylight left, however 7 is where it gets dark. The zombies become active as soon as it gets completely dark. DO NOT LET IT BECOME COMEPLETELY DARK BEFORE YOU GET BACK! When searching for the other squad call out their names, any names you can remember. And lastly, stay in your respective unit and don’t separate from the soldiers of that unit! Is that clear?” Angelina says “Yes Ma’am!” Ashley says “Sorry if I’m talking to you like soldiers, it’s a habit.” Ally says “It’s okay.”

Ashley claps her hands, she says “Alright, chop chop! Let’s get this shit moving.” the crew pull out their flashlights that were given to them. The crew were split into different units. Angelina, Ally, and Ashley were together. Anna, Isabella, and Valeria were together in another unit. And lastly Bailey, Jacob, and Carl were in theirs. Bailey yells “MOOOOM!! DAAAAAAD!!! CAN YOU HEAR ME?” she shines her flashlight around looking for them. Jacob says “I don’t think we’re near them. We have to keep walking.” Carl says “Look over there, zombie!” the soldier tells them “I have it under control. He bashes it over the head with the butt of his gun, the zombie fell to the ground. He proceeded to whack its head with the butt of the gun until there were nothing left. Carl says “Eww.” at the sight of the now crushed zombie.

A couple hours past... but still nothing. Sunset was over and evening finally came. The sky was a light purple. Darkness was gradually coming. Everyone was shining their flashlights everywhere, searching, calling, yelling... and still nothing was heard. Everyone was calling names **”DOLORES!” ”HENRY!” ”COMMANDER!” ”SIR! CAN YOU HEAR US???”** Ashley says “Shit...” although Angelina hadn’t known her much she tried her luck at calling Cameron. She yelled **”CAMERON!”** as loud as she could several times, nothing. Ashley asks “You know Cameron?” Angelina says “Not really. She just used to be in the community we were last at.” Ashley says “Oh, right.” She says this while her mind fades. She says “Ugh, we may need to call off the operation.” Angelina also gives a sad sigh. Ashley picks up her walkie-talkie, she says “Call off the operation, it’s getting late.” Ally asks “So we head back?” Ashley answers “Yeah. We don’t have much of a choice.”

The unit Bailey, Jacob, and Carl were in got news that the operation was called off. Bailey was not happy about it at all. She says “We can’t call it off! What if they’re still out there???” the soldier says “We’ve been searching for hours, Ma’am. If they were out here we would’ve found them by now.” Bailey refuses to go back. She says “No! I am not going back!!” Jacob says “Bailey, please, I don’t think they’re out here...” Bailey says “But my parents... WHAT ABOUT MY PARENTS???” Jacob says “Bailey, I don’t think they’re here! Whatever happned-“

a loud yell could be heard from afar. It sounded like the person was in pain. Bailey gasps, she says “Did you hear that???” Jacob replies “I did.” Bailey runs into the direction of the noise. Jacob says “Bailey! Wait!!!” he runs after her. Carl says “Guys, wait up! Don’t leave without warning.” Carl follows along. The soldiers yell at them, saying “HEY! STAY CLOSE TO US, IT’S DANGEROUS OUT THERE!” they went after them. Bailey was running, she was determined to find her parents. Jacob and Carl followed closely behind her trying to keep up. The soldiers tried to keep up with them.

As they were getting closer zombies started to wildly run out from the bush. One of the soldiers got pounced on by a zombie and got taken down. The soldiers started opening fire from suppressed guns. Bailey, Jacob, and Carl got too far away for the soldiers to catch up with, and they were getting ambushed by zombies. One of the soldiers yelled “RETREAT!” they ran back. Carl looks back, he says “Guys! We aren’t with the soldiers anymore!!” Bailey yells “I MUST FIND MY PARENTS!” they hear the yell again, it was a lot closer than before. Bailey says “Over here!” she runs to the direction. They ran through the bushes. They finally arrived. Bailey shined the light.

It was a soldier being slowly eaten alive by a zombie. His arms and legs were already gone, he was yelling in pain. Carl says “What the fuck!” Bailey says “No!” she ran over and picked up a branch. She stabbed the zombie in the head and threw it off the soldier. Bailey says “My parents! Have you seen them? I’m the daughter of the Commander, Military Commander Henry!” the man tried to speak, but he was far too gone. He stopped breathing, his eyes were wide open. Bailey starts shaking. She yells “NOOO! FUCK.” Jacob walks up behind her and places his hand on her shoulder. She shrugs his hand off and says “Don’t touch me!” she starts to cry. Carl hears shrieking noises from afar, it was the zombies. Jacob says “Bailey...” Carl tries to warn them. Saying “Guys...”

Bailey responds to Jacob, saying “I can’t do this anymore...” Carl says again “Guys!” Jacob says “What do you mean?” Bailey tells him, “Jacob, I’m going insane. If I can’t find them, or, or if something has happened to them...” Carl says “Guys! Come on!!!” Jacob says “We don’t know what’s happened to them.” Bailey yells “THAT’S THE POINT, WE DON’T FUCKING KNOW WHAT HAPPENED TO THEM! Jacob, I swear to god I’ll go insane if...” Jacob says “Bailey, calm down. You’re letting bad thoughts get into your head right now!” Bailey yells again “DON’T TELL ME TO FUCKING CALM DOWN!” Jacob yells back “BAILEY, S-“ Bailey says “No... No... No... NO!” Jacob slaps her. He grabs her shoulders and shakes her out of it. He stares into her eyes and says “Bailey, listen! We need to survive, okay? We need to live. If you parents are okay and you’re dead you will never know they’re alive, understand? Never!” Bailey nods. She’s shaking like a nervous wreck and crying.

Carl can’t take it anymore, he yells “GUYS!” Jacob and Bailey said “What?” Carl yells “FUCKING ZOMBIES! RUN!!!” zombies starting pouring out from the bushes. Bailey screams. The three start running for their lives. Jacob yells “SHIT! THEY’RE FAST, FUCK.” the zombies were gaining on them quickly. Jacob yells “HIGH GROUND! WE NEED TO GET ON HIGH GROUND!!!” Bailey says “Look!” she points to a rock ledge. If they could climb onto the ledge of this rock they could get to safety.

They start climbing, but they don’t have enough time to get up there because of the speed of the zombies. Jacob had let go for a moment and pulled out his gun, he shoots at them. He didn’t have a suppressor, so the loud noise of the gun can be heard. He quickly went back to climbing on the rock. The three of them were almost successfully up on the ledge. Bailey looked back to check if there were any more zombies coming. It looked safe. Then a pile of zombies came darting out of the bushes. Bailey got startled. She slips and falls back down a bit. Jacob yells “BAILEY!” him and Carl got up. They both grabbed onto Bailey’s arms and tried to pull her up as fast as they could. The zombies made it up to the rock and grabbed onto Bailey’s legs, they attempted to pull her down. Jacob and Carl held on tight. Bailey started crying. Jacob started to freeze, he felt this familiar feeling...

_Déjà vu._

When Matthew fell behind and Valeria and Jacob tried helping him. Losing Matthew still haunts him to this day, he couldn’t bare losing the girl he loves too. Jacob says “Argh! Carl, can you grab her other arm for me?” Carl says “Uh, I’ll try!” Carl struggles to reach her other arm. He just about made it. Carl says “I got her!” Jacob says “Good!” Jacob takes one of his hands off of Bailey’s arm, Bailey screams. Carl yells “WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?” Jacob says “Trying to save her.” he uses the other hand to undo his belt. He wraps the belt around the sharp rock sticking out. Jacob says “Bailey, grab onto this!” Bailey grabs a hold of it. Jacob grabs back onto her arms. She’s screaming and crying from the pressure of being pulled down. She yells “HELP ME!” she felt pressure of the belt getting loose. The belt was starting to get ripped already. Jacob yells “SHIT!” Carl says “Jacob, I can’t hold on any longer! They’re too strong!!!” Jacob ran out of options. His mind went completely blank. The thought of losing Bailey... he couldn’t have imagined it. He didn’t want to imagine it. And the feeling of possibly losing her...

_No._

_He did not want to lose her._

_He had no intentions of losing her._

_He was not going to lose her._

Jacob let go again. Carl asks “You’ve got another plan, dude?” he did have a plan, but he did not tell Carl. Jacob got up and walked up behind Carl. Carl asks “Dude, what are you doing? The belt is ripping away!” Carl didn’t hear any answer from Jacob. He turned around to see what Jacob was doing. He saw Jacob peering down at him coldly, his eyes were blank. Face emotionless. His gaze was dark...

Jacob lifts his foot and kicks Carl off of the ledge.

Carl screamed. It was the scream of death. He fell all the way down. He landed in the group of zombies. The zombies released Bailey and went after Carl immediately. They grabbed onto him and ripped into his flesh. Anguish screams of pain was the last thing heard from Carl. Bailey was in shock. She was wide eyed, staring at Jacob. Giving him the ” **Did you realize what you’ve just done?** ” look. He quickly attended to her and pulled her up the ledge. Bailey looked back down. Carl was unrecognizable. He became a pile of flesh that was food for the zombies. Bailey says “Jacob... What have you done???” Jacob says “It’s okay, Bailey, you’re okay now.” Bailey screams “YOU KILLED HIM! YOU FUCKING KILLED CARL!!!” Jacob tries to touch her but she backs away. She almost falls backwards, Jacob lunges to catch her and pull her in his embrace. She screams and yells “NOOOO! LET GO OF ME!! YOU’RE SICK!!!” Jacob covered her mouth with his hand. Muffled screams was all that was heard under his hand. He hugs and holds her tight, he says “Shhh! You’re alive, that’s all that matters.” tears streamed down her face, dripping onto his hand. She couldn’t believe what was happening. Jacob says “Let’s go home, babe.”

“You’re safe now.”


	14. See No Evil, Hear No Evil, Speak No Evil

Anna, Isabella, Valeria, and Ally were up late, worried sick. They were at the hideout waiting for the others to return. They were sent home for safety reasons. None of them could sleep without knowing that everyone else was okay. Yuki walks around Valeria in circles, she nuzzles her nose into Valeria’s leg and mewls a little. She can sense that Valeria was worried. It was raining outside slightly, a light shower of rain. They didn’t mind getting slightly damp though, it’s like they barely even noticed it. Minutes later the front gates opened. The four of them and Yuki rushed to the vehicles to see what was going on. Ashley and Angelina came out of the vehicle. Anna asks in relief “Oh my gosh, are you guys alright? We were worried sick!” Angelina gives a light nod. Ashley looked down in the dumps. Jacob and Bailey stepped out of the other vehicle. The two of them walked up to the others. They’ve noticed the two of them were covered in dirt and scratches. Anna asks “Are you guys okay? What happened out there???” they were both silent. Bailey looked devastated, she looks like she could have seen better days. Ally asks “Where’s Carl...?” they all stood there staring at each other in silence. Anna looked at all of them one by one for answers. Angelina turned away and kept silent. Ashley turned her head away, she couldn’t brace herself to look at anyone. Bailey had tears falling down her face, Jacob had his arms around her shoulder to comfort her. Isabella asks “What happened to Carl??” everyone had a terribly worried face.

Jacob says “He’s dead...” Isabella gasps, she says “Oh my god...” she covers her mouth and starts to cry. Anna says “No...” her face was in disbelief. Anna went to hug Isabella tightly, she cried in her shoulder. Valeria was lost of words. She was in shock. She wasn’t sure if she wanted to burst into tears or scream. She says “This is horrible...” Ally tries to hold back her tears, she asks “...How did he...? How did it happen??” Jacob tells them “We were being chased in the forest. We climbed onto a rock, while climbing he slipped and fell backwards into the zombie hoard. And that was it...” a tear flowed down from Valeria’s eye. Everyone was sad and devastated. Yuki whimpered sadly. Bailey felt sick in the gut from the blatant lie coming out of Jacob’s mouth. She brushes his arm off of her shoulder and walked away from him. She went inside to go and cry on her bed. Jacob kept watching her walk until he couldn’t see her anymore. Ashley tells Angelina “I gotta be alone for a bit, I’ll talk to you tomorrow.” Angelina says “Alright, Ashley. Don’t be too hard on yourself, okay? You’ve done nothing wrong.” Ashley just tells her “Goodnight.” Angelina says “Goodnight, Ashley.” Ashley wiped off a tear slowly coming down her face. The soldiers were wrapping up for tonight. Some of the crew stood outside trying to comfort each other through this sad time. Jacob couldn’t bare hearing the sad cries anymore, he left the area.

_4 hours earlier…_

Everyone grouped up back in the middle from where the vehicles were parked. Ashley tells everyone “Alright guys, we need to get going. It’s getting too dark.” Anna says “Ugh, it’s a shame we couldn’t find anyone...” Valeria asks “Do you think we were too late?” Ashley says “No. I highly doubt they were even here. It’s too strange that we couldn’t find not one survivor... Not even a body or anything!” Angelina asks “Do you think we were in the wrong part of the forest?” Ashley answers “Either that or there was a miscommunication error when understanding the message. It’s possible that it could even be an old message. Whatever it is our team will get to the issue.” they all felt uneasy that they could not find any survivors. There weren’t even any clues to show that they were there. Ashley was hoping that it was just a miscommunication error, and that them leaving now won’t mean that they’re leaving survivors behind. One of the soldiers that were leading the operation said “Alright, time to wrap up! Let’s go!” Valeria says “Wait...” Angelina asks “What is it, Valeria?” Valeria points out that some of them were missing, she says “Where is Bailey, Jacob, and Carl?”

Anna’s eyes began to shake, she says “I haven’t seen them...” Ally says “I haven’t seen them either. They were last seen going off in that direction in their own unit.” Ally points to the direction they went to. Ashley also mentions “I haven’t seen the soldiers that went with them either. Shit, this is concerning.” Ally asks “Now what do we do?” Ashley says “We wait a little. We’ll be pulling a limb here trying to stretch the time and putting ourselves at risk, but we can’t afford to leave any of us behind.” everyone nods in agreement. The soldier leading the operation says “We should only wait around 10 minutes tops. Any longer than that and we could be attracting unwanted attention.” Ashley says “If it exceeds that I’ll be going to look for them.” Angelina says “That’s risky, I hope you don’t intend to go alone.” Ashley says jokingly “Do you want to come with me so that when I fuck up you can catch me and proudly say I paid you back?” she smirks at her. Angelina blushes a bit, she says “Oh please, I’m being serious though, I don’t want anything bad to happen to you.” Ashley says “Aww, that’s sweet of you to care for me like that. I won’t plan on doing anything yet, it’s more like a last resort in case no one shows up. For now, we wait.” Angelina nods.

They waited, and waited, and waited, but still nothing. There was barely any light left in the sky. Some of the crew swore that they heard shrieking noises already, but that could just be the paranoia sinking in. Either way, Jacob, Bailey, Carl, and the soldiers weren’t showing up...

and that was very concerning.

The soldier says “Margrette!” Ashley looked his way as he called her last name. The man points to the watch on his wrist. Ashley says “Well shit, it looks like I have no other choice.” she walks to the back of the truck and pulls out some weapons. Angelina rushes to her and says “Wait! You can’t go alone!” Ashley says “I’m not. I’m having a couple soldiers tag along with me, if they volunteer of course. I wouldn’t blame them if they didn’t want to though. Things can get really scary at this time of the night.” a couple soldiers stepped in. One of them was a female soldier. She had ginger hair and freckles dotted around her nose area, she also had a nose ring. She said “Of course I’d go with you, Ash. You know I’d never let a comrade go it alone.” the other soldier was a big tall buffed dude. He says “I’m down.” Ashley looks to Angelina and says “See? My buddies got me covered.” Angelina says “I still want to go with-” before she could finish her sentence a couple of soldiers came out from the woods.

It was the same soldiers from the unit Jacob, Bailey, and Carl were in. They came running up to them, panting and covered in sweat. Ashley asks “What the hell happened? And where are the other guys?” the soldier says in a breathless voice “Agh- The- They-“ **breathes** “We got split up from them.” **breathes** Ashley yells in a shocked voice “HOW?” the soldier says “The girl heard something, and- and she started running off like a maniac. The other two kids ran after her, and we tried to keep up with them. They went too far away and we got ambushed by zombies.” the other soldier struggling to get his breath back says “We lost Hernandez.” Ashley says “Shit!” Ashley starts to get really worried. She scolds the soldier, saying “Why in the hell didn’t you call backup? Why would you just leave them like that? Useless!” the soldier says “We didn’t have a chance to! We dropped our walkie-talkie trying to escape those things!” Ashley growls in anger.

Ashley tells the other two soldiers that agreed to tag along with her “Come on! We’ve got to go save them as soon as possible.” Ashley calls for the soldier leading the operation, she says “Dalton!” he turns to her direction Ashley says “Send the others home, we can’t afford to lose anyone else.” Angelina rushes to Ashley, she says “Ashley, let me come with you!” Ashley tells her “No.” Angelina says to her “But I want to! You know I’m not reckless, just let me.” Ashley says “I’m sure the other three weren’t reckless either, but now where are they?” Angelina says “Just take me along only and send the others home.” Ashley sighs, she says “Fine. But just you and you only! And you gotta stick close to us no matter what, got it?” Angelina says “Got it!” Ashley tells Dalton “Alright, send the rest home.” Ashley grabs her gear and distributes it to the others. She says “Let’s go!”

Jacob stepped down from the rock. He climbed down carefully, trying not to alarm the zombies eating away at Carl’s corpse. As soon as he got on the ground safely he looks up to Bailey and offers his hand. She looks at his hand, then looks at him. She shakes her head, refusing to grab his hand. He says “Come! I’ll catch you!” Bailey was still in shock. She was breathing heavily and shaking nervously. She didn’t want to touch Jacob’s hand. She wanted to violently kick in his face from the rock she was standing on. Jacob says “Babe, come on! They won’t be distracted forever.” she swallows hard and reaches her hand out.

She hesitantly leans in towards him. Bailey touches his hand. He grabs her hand and pulls her down. She slightly screamed under her breath, being startled from the sudden pull of her arm. Jacob catches her safely and put her back on her feet. Bailey turned around and looked at what was left of Carl. Tears start to heavily flow from her eyes again. Jacob wraps his arms around her body and hugs her from behind. Bailey flinched from his touch. He holds her tight and whispers in her ear, saying “Come, we have to go now.” she starts to weep under her breath. Jacob says “Shhh. It’s okay.” he gently caresses her. Bailey felt sick, she felt like she wanted to throw up. Jacob lets go of her and puts his hand around her shoulder, he pulls her away from the area. Bailey stares at Carl’s remains as Jacob pulls her away.

Ashley, Angelina, and the other two soldiers went in the direction Jacob, Bailey, and Carl went through. They shined their lights in all directions, looking everywhere. Ashley’s face was dead serious right now. She was anxious. Her female soldier friend noticed how troubled she looked and wanted to lighten her up a bit. The female soldier says “Hey Ash, you still owe me one from the other day.” Ashley says “Huh?” the female soldier says “A booze from that arm wrestling match we had.” Ashley says “Oh.. Haha... as soon as this is over I’ll get ya that booze.” the male soldier jokingly says “If you keep betting away that booze you got stashed up you’re gonna get grumpy again.” Ashley says “Hah, I’m nearly close to running out as well.” the female soldier says “I won’t lie, Ash is hot when she’s angry.” Ashley says “Oh yeah? Look who’s talking. Most red heads I’ve met are fucking crazy when they get angry. You included.” the female soldier said “Haha! And that’s why you love me.” Angelina looked at the female soldier. She kinda felt some way when the girl said that, maybe a little jealous. Ashley says “Oh, Angelina. Let me introduce you to my long time buddies. This is Charlotte, the crazy ass red head. And John, the muscled pig.” Charlotte snickered and said “Hah, muscled pig...” Angelina tells them “Nice to meet you!”

They continued on the path. While walking, a couple zombies sprinted from the bushes. Ashley warns her friends, saying “ZOMBIES, LOOK OUT!” John shot a couple bullets, both went through the head without missing. Ashley says “Nice shot.” Charlotte says “Show off!” John says “Things are crazy at this time. Gotta stay alert.” they all nod in agreement.

Jacob and Bailey walked in silence. They were heading back to where the military had parked their vehicles. Although they were late Jacob knew deep down that they weren’t going to be left behind. He wasn’t worried. Bailey felt empty. She felt numb inside, like she’s just an empty shell walking. She was still in disbelief at what just happened. **”Was it a bad dream?”** she had thought to herself. **”Please just be a nightmare... Please don’t let this be real...”** tears began to fall down her face again. Then it started to really sink in, that she will never see Carl again, forever. He’s dead... and his life was taken away by her first love. **”No... I can’t do this!”** she snapped out of her shocked state. She started to run away, away from Jacob. Jacob says “Bailey, wait!” he ran after her.

Bailey screams “STAY AWAY FROM ME!” she breathed heavily as she ran as fast as she could. Jacob finally caught up to her and grabbed onto her sleeve, he said “Bailey!” she tried to shrug him off. He held on, causing her to be pulled back. She stumbled and they both fell onto the ground, Jacob stumbles over on top of her. Jacob tried to grab onto her arms and calm her down. Bailey yells “NO! GET OFF OF ME! STAY AWAY!!!” she scratched his face and neck. Jacob grabbed her wrists and pinned her down, restraining her. Jacob yells “BAILEY! STOP!!!” she struggles to get out of his grip. She yells “GET OFF OF ME, YOU MURDERER!” Jacob says “Bailey, I did it for you... I did it to save you!” Bailey yells “NO! YOU’RE SICK!!!” Jacob tells her “It was going to be you or Carl. One of you were going to die!” Bailey yells “YOU JUST WANTED TO KILL HIM! YOU WANTED HIM TO DIE!!!” she tries to wriggle out of his grip again. “Argh! Let go of me!!! LET GOOOO!!!” Jacob wouldn’t let her go. She gives up trying, Jacob just holds her there.

Bailey tells him “Jacob, I swear... I will tell them... I will tell them what you’ve done!” Jacob was unmoved, he says with a blank expression “You won’t.” Bailey yells “YES I WILL! You think I’m fucking bluffing? You murdered him, Jacob! It is only right for me to expose the murderer you are!!! And when I tell them... they’re going to be disgusted, disappointed, and absolutely horrified of the atrocity you have committed!!!” Jacob says “You won’t tell them, Bailey.” Bailey yells “AND WHY NOT? WHAT? ARE YOU GOING TO KILL ME???” Jacob says “You won’t tell them, because you love me, Bailey.” she freezes for a moment, she thought to herself **”Do I...? No, I don’t love him, I can’t love him! He’s trying to guilt trip me... No!”** she says “Fuck you! I could never love a murderer like you! I regret the thought of even falling for you!!” Jacob says “Yet you did, and deep down you can’t help but admit that you love me. All those words you told me...” Bailey tells him “Yeah? Well forget those words! You threw that all down the drain after what you did!!!” Jacob says “But did you forget what you told me after our first night? That you wanted me to be your first and last...” Bailey tells “STOP! The last thing I need is to be reminded of that!” Jacob tells her “You can’t erase that I was your first, your first kiss, your first love, your first everything...” Bailey says “No, I can’t. But I can erase you from my life. And that’s what I’m going to do. I’m going to tell them, and they’re going to-”

Bailey paused again. For some odd reason, a negative emotion started to overshadow her. Fear. She feared what would happen once she does tell. **”Will they lock him up? What if they believe exiling him and leaving him out there to die is better than locking him up? What if they kill him where he stands because he’s a threat?”** Despite what he has done, she began to fear what the military would decide to do to Jacob. Jacob asks her “To what?” Bailey was stumped, she wasn’t sure what to do anymore. Despite her despising what Jacob has become... she started to hesitate on the thought of telling, and what could happen. Bailey was silent. Jacob says in a calm voice “Exactly, Bailey. You won’t tell them because you love me.” he smiles at her and caresses her cheek. She flinched when he caressed her cheek. He says “Now let’s go. We can’t stay out here forever.” he lets go of her wrists and offers her a hand up.

They continued to walk through the path, Bailey following behind Jacob. They were walking silently, and she was thinking. Her shoulders hunched, and her eyes looking at the ground. She felt conflicted on what to do. She felt guilty about hiding the truth from the others, but she also didn’t want to feel guiltier if something was to happen to Jacob. This wasn’t the police they were dealing with, this was the military. Who knows what Frank may decide to do with Jacob. She just wanted Jacob to pay for his crime, not die. Everything just felt wrong...

Very wrong.

Another thought came into her mind that completely had her in worry. **”What if Carl’s blood won’t be the only blood on Jacob’s hands? What if Jacob kills someone else? Someone from our group?"** She came to realization that she doesn’t know who this Jacob is, what he is capable of, and what his intentions are. **“No! Bailey... You can’t do this! You can’t let him get away with this...”** she had realized that if something isn’t done about him he could be a serious threat. If he kills someone else because she chose not to do anything she will never forgive herself. **“But what if they... Ugh! Why do I care so much what happens to him? Carl needs justice!”** she grabbed her arm and squeezed it hard. She felt like she was going insane. She tried to think of happy thoughts. She was struggling to. But when something finally showed up in her mind’s eye, it completely made her stop in her tracks. She stopped walking for a moment.

**”...What if Jacob was actually behind Matthew’s death?”** it suddenly hit her. If he was capable of killing Carl in cold blood... then what was stopping him from killing Matthew? From the way he coldly murdered Carl without emotion, she started to believe that Carl was not the first one he had killed. She takes her eyes off the ground and looks ahead. Jacob was still walking. She notices the gun poking out from the back of Jacob’s pants. She thought to herself **”I must do it, I have to be the one to end it. No one else.”** she took a deep breath. She ran up to him. She lunges and makes a grab for it. She snatched the gun from him.

As Jacob felt it, he turns around and looks at her. She points the gun at him and clicks off the safety catch. She says “I can’t let you do this...” Jacob says “Do what?” she says “Get away with this...” Jacob asks her “So, is killing me the solution?” Bailey says “If I do it, yes.” she says with a dead straight face. Jacob tells her “Then do it, pull the trigger!” Bailey says “Don’t... Don’t test me, Jacob!” Jacob says “You said you need to do it, so do it. Pull the trigger! What are you waiting for?” the gun shook rapidly in her hand. She hesitated to pull the trigger. Bailey started to cry, she says “Why did you do it, Jacob? Why did you have to do that?? Why did everything needed to be so complicated and fucked up????” Jacob says “Bailey, I didn’t want you to die... I would rather it be him than you.” the tears on her face started to flow down heavier, she says “Didn’t he mean anything to you??? You were his friend for god sakes!!!” Jacob says “You just said it, he was my friend. But you are my girlfriend, my first love. You mean so much more to me.” Bailey was stunned, did he really just say that? Bailey says “Was that supposed to sound fucking romantic or something? What the fuck is wrong with you??” Jacob tells her “If that’s how you perceive it.” Bailey tells him “Don’t try to twist this back on me!” Jacob says “I’m not.” Bailey yells “STOP ACTING SO NEUTRAL! You’re really starting to piss me off.” Jacob tells her “Then end it.”

She wiped off her tears with her other arm. She puts both hands onto the gun to tighten her grip and lessen the shaking, but it didn’t help. She tries to convince herself **”I can do it... I must do it...”** she wasn’t convinced. One last thing came into Bailey’s mind, something she needed to ask before she ends it all. Bailey asks “I must ask you one last thing before I do this...” Jacob looks at her, waiting for the question. She asks “Did you kill Matthew?” she was sure he did, especially with the way he killed Carl without remorse. Jacob says “I didn’t.” Bailey yells “LIAR! If you can kill Carl in cold blood like that then I know for sure you were behind the death of Matthew!” Jacob tells her “I didn’t! But of course... you’d like to believe I did so that shooting me becomes a lot easier, right?” Bailey says “Shut up...” Jacob asks “Didn’t you ask her? The girl that is actually behind his death?” Bailey tells him again “Shut. Up.” Jacob says “He died for her. He threw his life on the line for her. But in the end, he died for a bitch that wouldn’t do the same for him.” Bailey yells “SHUT UP!” she pulled the trigger, the bullet missed him.

Jacob says “Well that’s unlucky.” Bailey says “Why do you hate her so much? She did nothing wrong!” Jacob he snorts a bit, he asks her “Is that what you think?” he drops his false smirk “She recklessly jumped around like a lunatic, only to get her ass stuck. She needed rescuing in the end. Heh... and who else would rescue her other than idiot Matthew. She was the reason why I needed to put a bullet through his brain when he turned... with the exact same gun you’re holding right now.” Bailey gasped, her eyes widened with shock. She dropped the gun to the ground.

Bailey says “I- I-“ Jacob said “I kept it because it was the only object that held a memory of him. You can call it morbid or whatever.” Bailey says “I held the same gun you shot him with...” she covered her mouth as more tears flowed down her cheeks. Jacob slowly walked up to her. She plants her face into her hands as she fully started to sob. Jacob stands in front of her. He reached out to hold her, he gently touches her shoulders before pulling her in for a hug. She cries onto his chest. Jacob whispers to her “There there... It’s alright now.” as she calmed down with her crying Jacob pulls her away. He cups her face and lifts her head up to look directly in his eyes. He says “Bailey, listen to me. We can put this whole thing behind us. Please, let’s just move on. We don’t have to speak of this ever again!” Bailey tries to say something but she chokes under her sobbing. She sucks in her tears and says to him “Promise me... Please promise me you won’t hurt anyone again. Promise me that you won’t kill anyone else...” Jacob says “I can only promise you if you promise me you’ll put this behind us. That you won’t ever leave yourself in a dangerous situation again.” Bailey says “I promise! But please, promise me. I beg you!” Jacob tells her “I promise.” he leans in to kiss her. Jacob pulls away, he says “Let’s go back.”

A zombie rushed out of the bushes and lunged for Charlotte, she aims the spear at its head and the zombie ran straight through it. Charlotte says “Dumbass.” Ashley says “I think that’s the last one. Man, these things don’t joke at night.” a bunch of zombie bodies were scattered around them. They were somewhat ambushed by them but the 4 of them handled the situation well. A gunshot can be heard from the distance. Angelina asks “Did you guys hear that?” Charlotte says “Yeah, it sounds like it was coming from the north side.” Ashley says “Let’s go!” Angelina says “God, I hope nothing bad has happened to them.” she gets worried. They headed up north to where the gunshot was heard.

Just minutes traveling up that side they found footprints deeply imbedded in the mud. Ashley says “Guys, look!” they looked on the ground and noticed the trails. “The trails lead up this way.” she said. Charlotte says “Stop!” Ashley asks “What?” Charlotte points, she says “There’s something up ahead.” they all shined their flashlights up ahead. There were two figures slowly coming from the bushes. John says “Aim but hold your fire just in case.” as the two figures come closer to the light, it appeared to be no other than Jacob and Bailey. Jacob came up closer with his hands up, he says “Don’t shoot, guys! It’s just us.” They all lowered their guns in relief.

Angelina rushed towards them, she noticed Bailey was covered in dirt and scratches, she also had tears running down her face. Angelina gave her a big hug, she says “I’m so glad you guys are okay.” Angelina pulled away, she immediately noticed Carl was missing. Angelina asks her “Where’s Carl?” Bailey couldn’t look at her and tell her, she lowers her head to the ground with tears falling off her face. Angelina looked to Jacob, she said “Jacob...?” Jacob sighed, he shook his head. Angelina looked devastated with shock on her face. Charlotte says “Oh god.” Ashley says “Damn it!” she paced around a little bit with her hand on her forehead. She asked “How did it happen???” Jacob tells her “I’ll tell you once we get back safely. Right now we’re not in a safe place...” Charlotte says “He’s right. Let’s get back before we lose anyone else.” Ashley sighs, she felt so bad that this had to happen. Angelina hugged Bailey again and held her tight.

The 6 of them went back. They encountered some zombie attacks on the way back. John handled every attack very cleanly for everyone to go on without issue. After that they finally got to the two vehicles parked up and they went back to their hideout. Ashley, Angelina, and Charlotte were in one vehicle. Jacob, Bailey, and John were in the other vehicle. Ashley and Angelina in particular were not looking forward to bringing back the bad news. Neither of them cried yet besides Bailey, but they know for a fact that it will be nothing but tears when they get back. It’s going to be sad for the rest of the week. They still couldn’t believe that Carl is gone now.

In the other vehicle Jacob tries to comfort Bailey, Bailey was not looking for his comfort at all. She felt uncomfortable every time he would try to put his arm around her, or touch her hand. But to not draw suspicion to John who was driving the vehicle she just sat there and not do anything. After the long trip back they finally reached the hideout and were outside the front gates. The gates were opened and they drove in.

As soon as they drove in Anna, Isabella, Valeria, and Ally rushed their way towards them. The four of the girls had a worried look on their faces, this worried look was about to transform into a face of shock and tears. After delivering the bad news Bailey went straight to her bedroom. She locked her door, feeling uncomfortable that her room is literally opposite Jacob’s. She crashed out on the bed and clutches for her pillow. She was too exhausted and depressed to clean up and take a shower. Bailey cried herself to sleep.

Next morning.

Breakfast was skipped today. Nobody had an appetite. It still took time to really sink in with some of the crew. **”Is Carl really gone?”** were some of their thoughts. Due to Carl’s body being irretrievable to hold an actual funeral, Frank had ordered to have a Memorial held for Carl instead. The memorial was hosted in a large room inside the building. The double doors were wide open, allowing people to come inside and pay their respects.

Inside the room, a large photo frame of Carl was placed on a table. It had flowers, gifts, and candles surrounding the photo on the table. Chairs were set inside the room for people that needed a seat while grieving. Soldiers came in and out of the room to pay one last visit to the young boy. All of the crew were in the room, sitting silently. They waited for the soldiers to pay their respects, send their condolences, and leave. They wanted peace to themselves. Charlotte and John came over to send their condolences. After the room was clear the only ones that remained there were the crew, Ashley, and Yuki.

Anna and Isabella went up first. They locked arms with each other while walking. They both stood in front of the large photo of Carl. Isabella wipes her tears with a handkerchief. She says “I never knew much about you, but I am so sorry this had to happen to you. I just hope you’re in a better place now...” she wiped her tears again. Anna says “May you rest in peace, Carl.” she sniffled, trying to conceal her tears. Isabella slowly started to sob again. Anna put her arm around her shoulder and said “Come on, Izzy. Let’s go.” she gave a light nod. They both walked back to take a seat while Anna consoles her. Angelina went next. Angelina says “Rest in peace, Carl. You will be missed.” she said in a melancholy voice. She went back to take a seat. Valeria came in next. Valeria says “I’m sad to see that you’re gone, dude... It felt like it was just yesterday you were busting your balls over defeating me at video games. And now I won’t see that anymore.” she sniffed and wiped the tear from her eye. “Rest in peace.” she went to take her seat. Ally came after Valeria. Ally says “Rest in peace.” Ally was lost of words. She never knew much about him, so there was not much to say. She says “I hope you’re in a peaceful place now.” Ally went back to take a seat.

Next was Bailey. Her eyes were really red and puffy. She still had tears flowing down. She slowly walked up to his picture. She says “Carl...” she sniffed and took a deep breath “I... I still can’t believe this... that you’re gone. It’s still dawning on me.” she tried to hold back her sobbing “You were a fat ass and annoying, but hell, I’m going to miss you so fucking much.” she put her hand on her mouth. She was heavily sobbing. She choked under her sobbing, she wiped her tears, trying to bring herself back together. She stood there, staring at his photo. Even to look at him made her hurt so much. She felt so guilty. She whispered under her breath “I’m sorry...” Angelina saw her quietly muttered some words, but she couldn’t understand. Bailey went to turn back to her seat, as she turned around she saw Jacob standing right behind her. She flinched back a little bit, she felt a shiver down her spine, as if she felt fear for a moment. She stared into the face of her murderous boyfriend. She felt sad, terrified, and disgusted. His face was blank. Bailey couldn’t stomach to look at him anymore, she took her eyes off him and wiped her tears. She walked straight past him, without giving him a second glance. He watched her walk away.

Jacob walked close up to Carl’s photo and stared at him. He felt... indifferent. Looking at Carl didn’t bother him. It’s like he didn’t care... but the fact is, he didn’t. Jacob had always been close to Matthew and Bailey. Carl and anyone else was like an extra to him. Like a friend of your friend that you just happen to tolerate. He obviously couldn’t display his cold emotionless self to the entire crew, so he had to pretend he cared. He says “Rest in peace, buddy.” he said in a dull voice. He drew a cross over himself with his hand. Bailey didn’t watch him. She knew he was going to be fake, and watching him might make her throw up. Even his false words made her feel like puking. Last person to come up was Ashley.

Ashley says “I’m so sorry, kid. I should’ve never let you guys roam out there like that... this is my fault.” Angelina overheard what she said, she stood up and walked up to her. She placed her hand on her shoulder and said “Hey! Please, don’t beat yourself up like that. This is not your fault!” Ashley turned her head and looked over her shoulder. She looked at Angelina and said “If I hadn’t made that decision I’m sure none of this would’ve happened. I’m just accepting my faults.” Angelina’s eyebrows furrow, she was worried at how Ashley is taking this. She says “Ashley...” Ashley tells her “Don’t worry about me. Please, you have enough to deal with already.” Angelina sighed. Ashley turned her head back to face Carl’s photo, she says “Rest in peace, kid.” she turned and walked out of the room. After everyone was finished they all left the room. Jacob was the last to leave. He turned around and looked at Carl’s photo one last time. He turned away and left afterward.

Valeria took Yuki out for a walk. Her mind was clouded with thoughts and memories the whole time. She thought about how she lost all contact with her family, and now she’s slowly losing her friends, one by one. She didn’t know what to do anymore, or what she was even doing in the first place. She felt lost. Ally says “Valeria!” she spotted Valeria walking and called out her name. Valeria says in a low voice “Hi.” Ally walks up to her. She asks “Are you okay? I know everyone is sad about the tragedy, but I’m kinda worried for you. You’re so quiet and distant.” Valeria says “I’m okay.” Ally didn’t really believe she was, but she did not bother any further. Ally walks along with Valeria and Yuki. They were silent the whole time. Both of them had thoughts on their mind. Valeria wanted to say something, but there was nothing to really say. Valeria is usually a very talkative person. And for the first time, she really couldn’t bring the words out.

Ally says “I’m sorry, Valeria. I know this isn’t the first time you’ve lost someone, so I understand this is a lot harder for you. For Bailey... and for Jacob.” Valeria says “It sucks, really bad.” Ally says “I know. It’s just...” Valeria asks “What?” Ally says “I don’t really know... I’m lost of words, to be honest.” Valeria didn’t say anything more, they continued to walk in silence. Ally says “Valeria-“ Valeria says “Ally, I really don’t want to talk about this anymore. I just want to walk Yuki.” Ally got the message that Valeria really wanted to be alone. Ally says “Okay, sorry for bothering you.” Valeria says “It’s alright, you weren’t. I just want to be alone for now.” Ally nods and respects her wishes. She left Valeria and Yuki alone to walk. When Valeria had lost Matthew she never had time to grieve. She had to push through difficult situations to survive, all while still hurting inside from the loss of one of her friends. For Carl it’s different. She’s out of harm’s way, and has way more time on her hands now. Also enough time to grieve both the recent loss of Carl, and the time period she lost to grieve for Matthew.

Bailey was laying on her bed crying again. She didn’t want to do anything else. She didn’t want to see anyone, speak to anyone, and not even have someone comfort her. She just wanted to cry, alone. Someone knocked on her door. Bailey’s heart started racing. The first person who came to mind was Jacob, and he was the last person she wanted to see right now. She kept silent and threw her blanket over her head, pretending to sleep. Bailey hears the words “Bailey? You okay?” it was Anna. It seems like Anna wanted to check up on her. Bailey sits up on her bed and quickly wipes her eyes. She says “Uh... yeah! Come in.” Anna says “The door is locked.” Bailey said “Oh.” she just realized she had locked the door. She went to unlock it then sat back down on her bed. Anna came in. Anna says “Can I get you anything to eat or drink? You haven’t left your room since the memorial.” Bailey says “I’m not hungry.” Anna tells her “But you have to eat at least a little bit, you’ll get sick...” Bailey groans a bit, not really wanting to eat anything. But she knew Anna was right. Anna says “I can quickly put together a sandwich and bring you some orange juice.” Bailey says “That would be nice. Thank you very much, Anna.” Anna left her room. Bailey went back to lay down. She felt like she wanted to cry again.

A couple minutes later she heard a knock on the door. Bailey says “You’re done already? That was quick.” the door opened and her eyes widened with surprise. It was Jacob. Jacob says “Hey, were you talking to me?” Bailey says in an aggressive tone “No, I thought it was someone else.” she looked very agitated. Jacob took a seat next to her on the bed. Bailey shuffled over to the side to distance away from him. He says “I know you’re sad, but just know that I’m always here when you need comfort.” she looked at him in an angry way. She thought to herself **”Why would I seek comfort from someone who killed my friend?”** Jacob places his hand on hers. Bailey quickly pulled her hand away. She says “Jacob, just leave me alone.” Jacob says “Bailey, let me help you.” Bailey yells “NO! You’re just making me feel worse with you being here.” Jacob lunges towards her and cups her cheeks. Bailey tries to escape his grasp but fails. Jacob says “Look at me.” she tries not to. Jacob turns her head so that she faces him, he says “Do you love me?” she struggles to get the words out. Jacob leans in and sucks her into a deep kiss. Bailey wanted to pull away, but she couldn’t. Jacob pulls away, he says “Pushing me away won’t fix anything, Bailey. Don’t forget what you promised me.” Bailey gulps.

**“Promise me... Please promise me you won’t hurt anyone again. Promise me that you won’t kill anyone else...” “I can only promise you if you promise me you’ll put this behind us. That you won’t ever leave yourself in a dangerous situation again.”**

Although she did promise him, she did that in the heat of the moment. She was upset and scared. She was desperate to the point that she would agree to anything just to keep her friends safe. But for some reason, the way Jacob said this to her almost felt like he said it in a threatening way. Jacob pulls her closer, he leans in again, his nose touching hers. As she held her breath for the second kiss, Jacob stopped. Jacob whispers to her “Because if you break your promise, I’ll break mine.” her heart dropped to her stomach. It was a threat! And she believes him. After what he has done, why would he bluff? She started to tremble with fear. Jacob kisses her again.

**Knock. Knock. Knock.** The door was knocking again. Anna says “I have your lunch here, Bailey.” Bailey pulls away from Jacob, she says “Just a minute!” she got up from the bed and paced around the room a little bit, she was still shaking. Jacob says “I’ll see you later, babe.” without even giving her a moment to compose herself he opened the door. Anna was standing there with a tray of sandwiches and a glass of orange juice. Anna says “Oh, hey Jacob. I hope you’re doing okay.” Jacob says “I’m doing fine.” he walks out and leaves Bailey’s room. Bailey brushes the hair off of her face and takes a deep breath. Anna asks “Are you okay? You look pale.” Bailey says “Yeah, I’m okay. I’m just under the weather a little bit.” she went back to her bed to sit down and eat. Anna says “Alright, well if you need anything please let me know.” Bailey says “Okay, thank you, Anna.” Anna leaves her room.

Angelina went to look for Ashley. Ashley wasn’t in the places you would usually find her, like the gym or the strategy office. Angelina asked around to see if the other soldiers knew where she was. None of them knew. Angelina says to herself “Where the hell is she???” she spotted Charlotte down the hall in the weapons room playing around with some pistols. Angelina went to her, she asked “Hey, do you know where Ashley is?” Charlotte says “Yeah, she’s in the basement drinking herself away. She wants to be left alone though.” Angelina says “Drinking herself away? Man, she’s already off to a bad start.” Charlotte says “Eh, that’s normal for her. Her way of coping I guess.” Angelina walks off to see her. Charlotte says “Hey, just a warning for ya. She’s in one of her worst moods right now, so expect some aggression and harsh words.” Angelina tells her “I can handle that.” she walks off to go see her.

Angelina opens the basement door. As she looks down towards the stairs it was nothing but darkness. But when she went down further she noticed a faint light. Like a lamp or candle light. Angelina reaches the end of the stairs and turns around the corner. Ashley was sitting on a wooden box. She was sitting in front of a lamp, and had a bottle of booze in her hand. Ashley swings her head back and takes another swig of booze. As she dropped her head back down she noticed Angelina was standing there watching her. Ashley says “How the hell did you find me here?” she quickly realizes who must’ve told her, she says “Fucking Charlotte. Can she ever keep her mouth shut?” Angelina says “Ash, you can’t do this to yourself! This isn’t the way to go.” Ashley snaps at her and says “Don’t call me Ash! Only friends get to call me that.” Angelina asks “So I’m not your friend?” Ashley laughs, she says “Of course not! Don’t tell me when I said I liked you that automatically made you thought we were best buddies?” she chuckles. Angelina says “Well, ASH. You’ll just have to deal with it.” Ashley says “Do you want your ass kicked, little girl?” Angelina says “Bitch, don’t call me little girl. I’m 3 years younger than you.” Ashley says “Well then, ANGIE. As what one of your friends call you. Hope you don’t mind me saying THAT...” Ashley stands up from the wooden box, it really looked like she was about to kick ass. Angelina says “Well I’m not the one getting worked up over a nickname, Soldier.” Ashley gets flustered.

Angelina walks up to her, she says “Give me that!” she swipes the booze from Ashley’s hand. She takes a big gulp of it. Ashley says “Hey! Get your own!!!” Angelina says “Sharing is caring.” Ashley sighs. Ashley says “How do you put up with my bullshit?” Angelina says “I just do.” Ashley gives a little “Tch.” under her breath. Angelina says “But also because I care about you, Ashley.” Ashley says “You can call me Ash.” Angelina says “Alright.” Ashley says “I don’t know why you care so much. This is a normal cycle to me. Drink my life away, become violent, go back to being somewhat normal again, and repeat.” Angelina says “Sounds a bit like what I used to be like.” Ashley says “Really?” Angelina says “Yup. You don’t really get anything out of it. Besides maybe increase your risk of kidney failure. But other than that...” Ashley adds “It’s just a way of coping.” Angelina says “Yeah.” they sat down in silence for a bit.

Angelina asks her “Why didn’t you take your own advice, Ash? About not dwelling on bad shit it happens?” Ashley sighs, she says “I guess it’s easier said than done.” Angelina says “Yeah.” Ashley adds “It’s also worse because Carl was a kid. He still had so much time ahead of him.” Angelina says “I understand, but it’s not your fault!” Ashley says “It is, in a way... like I could’ve kept you guys here, safe. But instead I-“ Angelina says “No. Stop blaming yourself!” Ashley tells her “He wouldn’t have died if I had not let you guys come along.” Angelina says “We don’t even know how he died!” Ashley says “Yes we do. He fell to his death. He wouldn’t have fallen if you guys stayed here.” Angelina says “Is that what really happened though?” there was a pause of silence. Angelina had not really thought about it, neither did she intend to say it like that. But for some reason, saying that made her think, what actually happened? Ashley looks at her, she was wide eyed, surprised at what she said. Ashley asks her “Are you saying Bailey and Jacob are lying???” Angelina says “What? No... I’m just saying we don’t really know how it went down. They said he slipped and fell into a hoard, but it feels a bit too-“ Ashley asks “Too what?”

Angelina says “Simple. It sounds too simple of a way for him to die.” Ashley says “I mean... He is overweight. It’s hard to do things like running and climbing like that.” Angelina says “Trust me, every one of us are one hell of a fighter. We’ve survived shit no other would, and Carl is no quitter, regardless how fat the kid is. I’m not calling Jacob and Bailey liars, but I feel like things went differently from how they’re describing it.” Ashley says “Maybe mistakes were made and they felt guilty?” Angelina says “Maybe. I just wish they had the courage to tell the truth. But if Carl did end the way they said he did, then that is one shitty way to go down.” Ashley says “Regardless of how it went, there was still a way to prevent it.” Angelina says “Ash, enough!” she shoves the bottle of booze into her face. She says “Drink.” Ashley says “I thought you were worried about my kidneys?” Angelina says “If drinking can make you stop beating yourself up you might as well go for it.” Ashley took the bottle and drank some. She offered the bottle back to Angelina, Angelina says “I can’t drink anymore, gotta be sober for dinner.” Ashley says “You should come drink with me sometime.” Angelina smiles, she says “I will. When I’m free from the others. It’s pretty embarrassing being drunk in front of them.” Ashley laughs, she says “Ah! You’re the type to get freaky when drunk, huh?” Angelina gets flustered, she says “Pfft. Later, Ash.” Ashley says “Later, Angie.” Angelina walks up the basement stairs and left for dinner.

The crew had dinner. The room they once ate breakfast in became a bit more decorated and homey. The cooking was also made with fresh ingredients. Ashley had ordered some of the soldiers to help out with the room. It wasn’t perfect but it definitely made things a bit better. The crew sat down and ate in silence. No one spoke a word. You could tell they weren’t that hungry from how slow they ate. The atmosphere was rather gloomy. Jacob was feeling uncomfortable. He always hated seeing miserable faces, and depressing atmospheres. It’s like he just wanted things to go back to normal again. Jacob decided to break the silence by announcing something. He stood up from his chair and tapped his glass with a fork. Bailey who was sitting right next to him, looked up at him. She wondered what Jacob was doing. Jacob says “Everyone, I have an announcement to make.” everyone looked up at him, paying attention. He continued “Umm, so I know right now wouldn’t be the perfect time to say this. But we wanted to get this off our chest.” **”We? Who’s ‘We’?”** Bailey thought to herself. He says “We’ve been secretly feeling this way for a long time now, and just a couple days ago it has become official.” Bailey thought to herself **”Is he talking about us???”** He continues “Bailey and I are officially in a relationship.” everyone at the table was silent.

Isabella places her knife and fork down and claps slowly, she says “Congratulations.” she says in a low spirited voice. Ally says “Umm... that’s... nice to hear.” Bailey looked at him like he was insane. Why in the hell would you announce that now? And without her consent??? Bailey wanted to snap at him. Angelina asks him “Why would you say this now, being fully aware that now is not an appropriate time???” Jacob says “I just wanted to liven up the mood a bit.” Angelina says “Liven up the mood? Does now look like a good time to be cheered up??” Jacob says “Listen, I just hate seeing everyone look miserable. I thought-“ Angelina cuts him off and says “Well you thought wrong! Carl just died A DAY AGO. Do you not care that he died???” Jacob asks her “Are you questioning how much I care about Carl’s death? My own friend???” Angelina says “Yes. Because you sure as hell don’t look like you give too much of a shit.” Jacob snaps and says “I do freaking care! Yes, his death hurts me, but I have my own way of dealing with grief.” Jacob realized he slipped up not showing enough emotion about Carl’s death, he hopes that what he said was convincing enough.

Angelina says “There is a difference between using coping mechanisms and straight up showing how much you care, and I see the latter right now.” Jacob plants his fists down on the table, he says “Who the hell do you think you are to be questioning just how much I give a shit about Carl? He’s my fucking friend, and I knew him since the beginning of high fucking school. You don’t know shit about my friendship with him.” Angelina gets up from her chair, she says “And you are acting too suspicious for my liking, Jacob.” she places both her hands on the table and leans forward, looking dead straight into his eyes. She says “Tell me, Jacob. What really happened out there?” she says in a deep, cold, voice. It brought shivers down Jacob’s spine. Jacob starts to sweat a bit, he realizes that Angelina suspects him of something. Bailey was starting to get nervous. Anna had enough, she wanted to break the fight. She gets up from her chair and slaps her hands down on the table, she yells “ENOUGH!” everyone stares in Anna’s direction.

She says “I have had it with the stupid ass arguments, and the stupid ass fights we have amongst each other! Can’t we mourn in peace? I’m so SICK of this!!!” she takes a deep breath. Anna says “Jacob, your announcement timing was insensitive and you need to learn to keep things to yourself when times are inappropriate. Angelina, now is not the time to be starting arguments-“ Angelina says “I’m not starting arguments-“ Anna puts her hand up and says “Enough! Now is not the time for goodness sakes. Please give it a rest.” Angelina grits her teeth. She steps away from the table and leaves. Ally says “Angelina!” Angelina says “Lost my appetite.” she walks away. Bailey releases a breath of relief. She was glad it didn’t escalate any further. Anna says “I need to go outside for air.” Isabella watched her get up and leave, she gets up and joins after her. Bailey stares at Jacob, as soon as Jacob looked in her direction she nodded her head pointing towards outside. She wanted to have a word with him, she got up and went out of the room, he followed shortly after.

Jacob followed Bailey into an empty room. Bailey was furious with Jacob. Bailey asks him “What the hell was that? Why would you announce that now of all times???” Jacob says “I wanted to lighten up the mood, I was so sick of staring miserably in silence.” Bailey sighs. Jacob continues “But I also wanted our relationship to be known. Hell, I would tell the whole world if I could. Just to show how happy I am being with you.” Bailey says “You should have consented with me first! That is what pisses me off!!!” Bailey wanted to punch him right now. Back then, Bailey would’ve been over the hills happy to go public with Jacob. But now, she wasn’t too keen on the idea of going public with a murderous guy she was now stuck with. Now that it’s out, it’s probably going to reach the military like wild fire, it made her uncomfortable just thinking about it.

Jacob says “Well, I’m sorry. I was just excited to get it out. Our relationship was so vague before, and now that it’s an actual thing...” Bailey says “Jacob, don’t you see what you’ve caused? Now Angelina is suspicious of you.” Jacob says “Yeah? Well fuck what she thinks. She can’t prove shit anyway.” Bailey was startled at how Jacob reacted. Bailey says “Well you better drop that don’t give a fuck attitude real quick because I’m involved in this too, Jacob.” Jacob kept silent. She continues “Look, it’s quite obvious that you don’t give a shit what you did to Carl, but I do, I give a shit! So you need to straighten up your act. As much as it makes me sick seeing you fake it, if you act careless then it’s going to bring negative attention.” Jacob says “Only you and I were there, only we know what happened. I wouldn’t worry about a person throwing accusations they can’t prove.” Bailey says “I can still do without the unnecessary tension and drama. You better find a way to convince Angelina, because she’s not easily fooled once she suspects something.” Jacob says “I’ll handle it.” Bailey says “Without violence too! I don’t trust you anymore.” Jacob says “I’m not going to use violence.” Bailey says “Good!” Bailey walks away angrily.

Anna was standing outside, looking into the stars. Very few stars were out tonight, it felt quite sad. Isabella asks her “Are you okay, Anna?” Anna sighs, she says “Yeah. I’m just tired.” Isabella says “Oh, you should get some sleep then.” Anna says “I meant mentally. I’m just tired of this whole situation, it’s stressful.” Isabella says “Oh, right... I feel the same way.” Anna says “Imagine if there was a way to turn back time...” Isabella says “Even if we were able to the apocalypse would still happen.” Anna says “At least you’d be more prepared, right? You could get all your family together, warn your friends, stock up on supplies, and just wait for it. No worrying about who’s still alive, and who is in danger.” Isabella says “That’s true.” Anna breathes in and out. Isabella says “I think we’re all under stress. Which leads to all these fights and arguments.” Anna keeps silent and listens to her. Isabella continues “I am hopeful we will get out of this. It was unfortunate to lose Carl, but I want that to be the last tragedy we will ever have in this group.” Anna says “Yeah.” Anna wasn’t so hopeful, but she didn’t want to think about the worst anymore. Anna kept her feelings neutral. Anna says “I’m gonna go to bed. Night, Izzy.” she walks up to her and gives her a hug. Isabella says “Goodnight Anna.”

Ashley was called to go to Frank’s office. She walks into his office and takes a seat. Frank says “Margrette. Glad you could join me.” he pours a glass of whiskey “Would you like to drink?” Ashley shakes her head. Frank says “Suit yourself.” he dashes the drink down his throat in one shot. Ashley asks “So why did you call me into your office this late? It’s 12:21AM.” Frank stays silent for a moment. He says “This isn’t really my part of the job, but since the General isn’t here, and I have no way of reaching him, I will be the one giving you a promotion.” Ashley kept silent. He continues “Although this was temporarily a position given to you at first, I will officially be promoting you from Second Lieutenant to First Lieutenant.” Ashley says “I’m sorry, Captain. But I’m going to pass on this promotion. I don’t deserve it.”

Frank says “Margrette, I don’t promote you based on how many lives you’ve saved. I promote you based on your performance and capabilities. If you’re going to be down in the dumps every time you fail to save a life, then the military isn’t for you.” Ashley says “I understand. It’s just...” Frank asks her “Are you taking this promotion or not?” Ashley says “I’ll take it. Thank you, Captain.” she didn’t sound too happy accepting it, but she had no choice. Rejecting it is like a slap in the face. Frank gets up out of his chair, he starts pacing up and down his office.

Frank says “Now that promotion is out of the way, I have a couple of things to tell you. First of all, we were recently given access to a profile tracking system. This system was recently installed by the government, and can only be accessed by the government and whoever the government allows access to it. The government recently made it accessible to the military. The system gives information about civilian’s status. If they’re dead they will be listed as deceased on their profile. If they are alive it will also state that. If the civilian has not been found or registered on the system, the system’s status will show them as ‘unknown’.” Ashley asks “This will help the others know about their families, correct?” Frank says “This is precisely why I’m telling you this now, since you’ve agreed to help them. Just know that this system may not give them the results they’re looking for.” Ashley says “I understand, sir.” Frank stops and stands still, staring out of his window.

Ashley asks “Sir, what was the second thing you wanted to tell me?” Frank says “Keep this just between me and you.” Ashley nods, he continues “I found some information about a potential cure.” Ashley gasps, she says “Really? How do we get it?” Frank says “That’s the thing, I don’t quite know yet. Rumor has it that the cure is currently being made, and tests are going on for it. Other rumors are saying that the cure has already been created, but there is a limited supply of it. But you already know I don’t go by ‘rumors’ which is the reason why I’m only telling you.” Ashley says “Is it possible to go out and investigate?” Frank says “Negative. The laboratory is across the country. I would need more in depth information about this ‘cure’ before I even plan such an expedition.” Ashley says “We are kinda desperate right now though. We can’t stay here forever, not at the rate our supplies are going down.” Frank says “This is why I’m gathering as much information I possibly can. I am only one man, Margrette. And I’m on limited resources, and limited man power. I can’t take big risks.” Ashley says “Understood, sir.”

Frank says “That will be all for now. I will leave you to tell those group of civilians about the condition of their families.” Ashley nods, she says “I will discuss it with them tomorrow, sir.” she gets up from her chair to leave the office. She turns and heads to exit the door. Frank says “Margrette, before you go,” Ashley turns around and looks at him. He says “keep your chin up and focus.” Ashley says “Yes, sir!” she salutes him. Ashley leaves his office.


End file.
